


Entangled in a Spider's Web

by Shel_Kim



Category: Super Junior
Genre: Abuse, Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Police, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Blood and Torture, Blood and Violence, Crime Fighting, Detectives, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Smut, Hostage Situations, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kidnapping, Korean Characters, Lima Syndrome, M/M, Mental Instability, Murder, Mystery, One-Sided Relationship, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Sexual Abuse, Plot Twists, Police, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychopaths In Love, Pyromania, Rape, Romance, Serial Killers, Some Humor, Stockholm Syndrome, Suspense, Thriller, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 19:58:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 15
Words: 60,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14817908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shel_Kim/pseuds/Shel_Kim
Summary: When a disturbing pattern of rapes/murders appears in the Gangnam district of Seoul by a sadistic serial killer, the detectives and officers of the 18th precinct are thrown into a sick game of cat-and-mouse as they attempt to catch the killer before even more bodies pile up.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is also posted on my Wattpad and Asianfanfics account. Hope you guys enjoy!

          Upon opening his eyes, Choi Min-ki’s vision was immediately blurred by blood dripping down from his temple. Looking down, Min-ki found that his wrists and ankles were bound to a chair tightly. Min-ki’s heart pounded as he gasped and struggled against the restraints to try and free himself, before hearing a voice say “Kyuhyun, he’s awake.”

          Looking over to the right, Min-ki blinked a few times to get the blood out of his eyes before seeing a black haired Korean sitting on a backwards facing chair, flickering a lighter every few seconds, watching the small flame dance around the lighter before vanishing, then reappearing seconds later. Min-ki noticed just how entranced this Korean seemed with the fire, which made him grow even more nervous. Standing up, Min-ki’s captor slowly walked over to him, still flickering the lighter. He then questioned “Have you ever looked at fire? I mean _really_ looked at it?”

          “N-no,” Min-ki gasped, watching the small flame grow closer to his face.

          His captor smirked. “It’s a beautiful thing, but at the same time, this beauty can turn into a Hell of a beast if one isn’t too careful,” the Korean man whispered as an evil grin appeared across his lips.

          Min-ki trembled in fear before jumping when he heard “Yesung, that’s enough talking. Now that he’s awake, we can continue our game.”

          Yesung took a few steps back and asked “What do you want to do to him now Kyuhyun?”

          A dark brunette Korean approached them and looked at the terrified blonde bound before him. Kyuhyun knelt down to where he was eye level with Min-ki and touched his face, wiping the still dripping blood off his skin, feeling his captive quiver under his cold touch. Tears fell from Min-ki’s eyes and mixed with his blood as Kyuhyun harshly kissed his mouth, biting roughly against his lower lip, breaking the sensitive skin as Min-ki groaned in pain. “You’re not my Minnie, are you?” Kyuhyun whispered. When Min-ki didn’t answer, Kyuhyun stood and stated “You lied to me you son of a bitch.”

          “I told you that I don’t know you!” Min-ki screamed as he struggled against his restraints.

          He immediately froze when Kyuhyun lunged forward and grabbed him by the throat. “See, now I know you’re really not Minnie, because Minnie would never yell like that,” Kyuhyun said matter-of-factly with a twisted smile across his lips. His smile soon turned into an angry sneer as he growled “If you will not be my Minnie, then you will be nothing. You will be unrecognizable, when I’m done with you, you will beg me to kill you, and I just might be gracious enough to do that.” Standing up, Kyuhyun held his hand out and stated “Lighter.”

          Yesung looked at his friend and said “C’mon man, you said I get to do burnings.”

          “Give me the fucking lighter!” Kyuhyun demanded, shooting Yesung a deadly grin.

          “Okay dude, chill,” Yesung complied as he tossed Kyuhyun his lighter.

          From inside his jacket pocket, Kyuhyun retrieved a cigarette, placing it in his mouth and lighting it before tossing it back to Yesung. “There now, was that so hard?” Kyuhyun wondered as he took a drag and looked at their victim. “Now burn his fingertips.”

          “You got it,” Yesung agreed as he produced a flame from the lighter and walked over to the struggling Korean man. Yesung placed the fire underneath Min-ki’s fingertips as he and Kyuhyun listened to him scream in agony as his flesh burned.

          Kyuhyun took another drag and breathed out the smoke as he closed his eyes and happily said “I love it when they scream, makes everything worthwhile.”

          One by one, Min-ki’s fingertips were seared off as the blonde Korean gulped down sobs before suddenly vomiting onto the floor. “Kyuhyun, he’s going into shock,” Yesung calmly informed.

          “Ah shit,” Kyuhyun mumbled as he took a last drag of his cigarette before dropping it and stomping out the butt. “Alright, lay him down, elevate his feet like we had to do with the others.”

          Yesung and Kyuhyun took the chair that Min-ki was strapped onto and lay it down on the concrete floor before placing a cement brick under his ankles to elevate his feet. “There, that should buy us some more time,” Yesung figured. “Fingertips are off, anything else you want me to burn?”

          “Not yet, let me have a little more fun with him first,” Kyuhyun requested. “Why don’t you go start the coffee, I should be done by the time it’s ready.”

          “Sounds good,” Yesung replied before walking to another side of the warehouse.

          Kyuhyun gazed down at Min-ki, who was gasping “Kill me, please k-kill me.”

          Smirking, Kyuhyun whispered “It’s not time for you to die yet, I’m not feeling that gracious today.” Standing up, Kyuhyun untied Min-ki’s hands from the chair, knowing that his captive was too weak to put up a fight at this point. Kyuhyun bound his hands together before placing them on a hook that hung above them; walking over to a beam, Kyuhyun yanked on a rope several times, which hoisted Min-ki slightly into the air, leaving him hanging just a few feet off the ground by his wrists. “Just one more thing,” Kyuhyun muttered to himself. Grabbing a large butcher knife off of a nearby table that was filled with a multitude of different sized knives, scissors, pliers, and other tools that he and Yesung used. Kyuhyun used the knife to slice open Min-ki’s shirt and shred his jeans off, leaving his full body exposed and vulnerable to Kyuhyun. “There now,” Kyuhyun said as he slipped on latex gloves. “A full view to appreciate.”

          He slowly ran his hand up Min-ki’s thigh to his stomach before the blonde Korean asked “A-are you going to rape me a-again?”

          “No, I’m afraid that fun is over, and I prefer you not call it ‘rape’, such a disgusting word; think of it more as training. When you want an animal to learn, you train them to understand that you hold the control and that they have no power. Once that is learned, they submit to you upon command; the same can be done with humans, if you take away their power, they have no choice but to submit,” Kyuhyun explained, setting the knife back down and picking up blindfold.

          Standing up, Kyuhyun tied the blindfold around Min-ki’s eyes, hearing the blonde ask “W-what are you doing?”

          “Sensory deprivation; you won’t be able to see what I’m doing to you, which will enhance your sensations for touch, which will bring me lots of joy when you feel what I’m going to do,” Kyuhyun evilly responded as he sat back down and picked up his pliers.

          Kyuhyun took one of Min-ki’s feet and placed it on his knee before using his pliers to yank off each toenail one by one, hearing Min-ki scream out in pain. Calmly, Kyuhyun discarded each clipping into a paper towel before continuing. Once he was finished, he saw Min-ki had passed out, more than likely from shock. Sighing again, Kyuhyun stood up and shook his captive, slapping him across the face before Yesung walked back over. “Again?” Yesung asked, not looking too surprised.

          Kyuhyun nodded before instructing “Try the ten second method, see if that does anything.”

          Smiling, Yesung grabbed a box of cigarettes off the table before lighting one and putting it out on Min-ki’s back, searing it into his skin, as he counted “One, two, three . . .”

          Before he could go on, Min-ki gasped as he regained consciousness. “Nice of you to join us,” Kyuhyun stated.

          “Came back sooner than the others did,” Yesung noted. “Oh, the coffee is about ready.”

          Kyuhyun nodded before Yesung walked back over to the opposite end of the warehouse. Standing up, Kyuhyun picked up a clear bottle with liquid in it and squirted it all over Min-ki’s chest. “W-what, what is this?” he asked, as he tried to struggle.

          Shushing him, Kyuhyun took the blindfold and wrapped it around his mouth as a gag before responding “It’s just ice water.” He then picked up a paring knife. “It’s quicker to cut something if it’s erect.” Kyuhyun then allowed his eyes to scan down to Min-ki’s chest, before the blonde Korean knew what he was about to do. Min-ki screamed into the gag as Kyuhyun proceeded to cut off his nipples, sawing through one of the buds before whispering “You know why I cut the nipples off?” Taking his paring knife, he circled the tip around his captive’s other bud as he continued “Because the erogenous areas make them scream the most.” He then sliced off the other nipple before setting his paring knife in a bucket of bleach next to his other knife. Kyuhyun heard Min-ki mumble something into the gag before removing the cloth. “Repeat what you said,” he instructed.

          “K-kill me, please, p-please kill me,” Min-ki pleaded.

          “Soon, but not yet,” Kyuhyun denied.

          Yesung then walked over holding two cups of coffee. “Finished yet?” he wondered, handing Kyuhyun his cup.

          “Not quite, still a couple of things we need to do, and then dump him before sun up,” Kyuhyun informed.

          “Sounds like a plan,” Yesung agreed before they clinked their coffee mugs and sipped their drinks quietly, watching their victim bleed profusely in front of them.

          ____________________________________________

 

          Police sirens wailed through the streets of Gangnam, as detective Choi Siwon approached the scene before him. Jumping out of his car, Siwon retrieved his gun from his hip holster and readied his weapon. Reaching to his radio on his shoulder strap, Siwon said “Donghae, what’s your 10-20?”

          “Enroute to your 10-20, 10-26 approximately five minutes,” Donghae informed.

          “10-4, when you get here, wait outside and detain the getaway car, black SUV, missing back license plate,” Siwon requested.

          “Alright, detain driver and then follow you inside,” Donghae figured.

          “Negative, stay with the driver,” Siwon firmly instructed as he hurried up the steps of the Gangnam Bank. Breaking open the door, Siwon pointed his gun at the robbers and stated “Gangnam 18 Precinct Police, put your hands where I can see them!”

          Instead of complying, the robbers shot their guns at Siwon, who quickly dodged them by hiding behind a pillar. Siwon turned and took shots at the robbers, careful to avoid any civilians. After hitting the robber in the shoulder, Siwon reloaded his gun before hearing more gunfire. Looking up, Siwon saw Donghae shooting at the robbers too. “Thought you could use some help,” Donghae figured as he hid behind a neighboring pillar next to Siwon.

          “I told you to detain the driver!” Siwon remarked.

          “I did that,” Donghae promised before they both turned and shot at the robbers. Donghae managed to hit the other in the leg, sending him down to the floor.

          Quickly, Siwon and Donghae rushed over to the fallen gunmen and turned them over onto their stomachs. “You both have the right to remain silent,” Siwon said as they handcuffed them. Standing them up, Siwon and Donghae walked outside with their suspects. “So what car did you put the driver in?” Siwon asked.

          “Neither, he’s still in his car,” Donghae replied.

          “I thought you said you detained him,” Siwon repeated.

          “I did, see?” Donghae stated, pointing to the black SUV that Siwon had described. “I parked your car behind it and mine in front so he can’t get away.”

          Suddenly, the driver slammed into both Siwon and Donghae’s patrol cars before speeding away down the street. “Idiot!” Siwon yelled to Donghae.

          Donghae quietly radioed in “Detectives Lee and Choi request a car to our 10-20.”

          “10-4 Detective Lee, sending a car to your location now,” the dispatcher informed.

          When they returned to the precinct, Donghae tried to reason with Siwon. “Look, I understand you’re upset, but we got two out of three, so that’s good,” he reminded.

          “Oh is that the method you used in training? If you get most, that’s a good thing?” Siwon demanded. “You’re a complete imbecile!”

          “Stop calling me that!” Donghae shouted back.

          “Detective Choi, Detective Lee, in my office now,” Captain Kim Kangin called from the far end of the room.

          “Captain, I cannot be placed on the same team with him anymore, he cost us two patrol cars and a suspect today,” Siwon stated.

          “At least no one was injured and the money was returned,” Donghae reminded.

          “Detective Lee is right Siwon, the important thing is that the civilians stayed safe and the money was returned, and the responsible parties were reprimanded. The driver will turn up sooner than later,” Kangin agreed. “And as for you two not working together, you can scrap that idea because I need you two to investigate a body found in the woods near the Gangnam college.”

          “Yes sir,” Donghae said before walking out.

          Siwon was about to leave before Kangin stopped him. “Siwon, lighten up on Donghae, you were the same way nine years ago when you joined,” Kangin reminded.

          “Sir, he’s been here for three years, you think he’d have learned by now,” Siwon responded.

          “I understand, but he’ll get better, he just needs a little help from you, and he’s not going to improve if you keep berating him,” Kangin stated. “Just keep that in mind.”

          Outside in the main room, Donghae approached his computer IT friend. “So Yesung, the Captain says there was a body found?” Donghae asked.

          “Yeah, the people who found him say that it was so gross that they threw up. That’s gotta be pretty fucked up, don’t you think?” Yesung inquired.

          “Definitely, but I mean how bad can it be?” Donghae wondered.

          “Donghae, let’s go,” Siwon called as he left Kangin’s office.

          “Send us the 10-20 on that exact location,” Donghae requested.

          “You got it man,” Yesung agreed as he turned back to his computer.

          When Donghae and Siwon reached the crime scene, they found the Shindong?” Siwon questioned.

          “This is brutal guys, his fingertips have been removed, his nipples were cut off, hair was burned off, toenails were ripped out, his tongue looks to be scissored off, cigarette burns all across his back, and worst of all, cause of death was a nail to the heart,” Shindong explained.

          Looking at the corpse, Siwon and Donghae saw that there was a note that had been nailed in a plastic bag to the victim’s chest, with a nail impaling his heart. “Will you be able to ID him?” Donghae asked as he and Siwon slipped on latex gloves.

          “We should be able to, the killer seemed to have tried to remove every part of DNA recognition from his body, we can take a hair sample from him,” Shindong informed.

          “I thought all his hair was burned off,” Donghae said.

          “I didn’t say the hair would come from his head,” Shindong clarified. Siwon and Donghae looked at one another before shivering uncomfortably. “Once I get him back to the lab, I’ll be able to do a full autopsy on him, but from the looks of it, this poor son of a bitch felt every bit of torture before his death.”

          Slowly, Donghae knelt down and retrieved the plastic bag that was nailed to the victim’s chest. Standing back up, he opened up the baggy and pulled out a note that was inside.

_I’m back fuckers, are you ready to play?_

_Ready to be roped into my little game?_

_I’ve killed out of vengeance, this you should remember._

_Back a while ago in the month of December._

_My thirst for blood sadly wasn’t satisfied,_

_Come and find me before more people have to die._

          “What is it Siwon?” Donghae wondered. “Is it a warning, is it a clue?”

          “It’s a taunt, this motherfucker thinks it’s a game,” Siwon figured. “We’ve got to get this back to the precinct now.”

          Upon arriving back at the 18th precinct, Donghae and Siwon showed the note to their captain. “Pull the files from last December and try to find any kind of pattern with those killings and this one,” Kangin instructed.

          As Siwon and Donghae looked through the files, Kangin asked “Did the victim have his fingers cut off by chance?”

          “Yes sir, his fingertips were cut off,” Donghae informed.

          “Son of a bitch,” Kangin muttered.

          “What is it Captain?” Siwon inquired.

          “I have a feeling that this is the same psychopath who murdered my husband,” Kangin revealed.

_*Flashback 7 months ago*_

          Kangin’s phone rang inside his office one morning. “Captain Kim, 18th precinct,” he answered. After a moment, he stood up. “What?” Kangin rushed downstairs to the coroner. “Where is he?”

          “Captain, maybe it’s best if you don’t –” Shindong started.

          “Goddammit if that’s my husband, let me see!” Kangin demanded.

          “Yes sir,” Shindong complied as he pulled back the sheet to reveal the Captain’s husband to him.

          Kangin felt his knees buckle as he looked at how disfigured and mutilated his husband’s body was. “Leeteuk, Leeteuk no,” Kangin cried quietly. “What happened to him?”

          “He was raped and tortured sir,” Shindong solemnly stated, lowering his head.

          Kangin then gazed down and noticed something. “Where, where the fuck are his fingers at?!”

          “I don’t know sir, they weren’t discovered near the crime scene,” Shindong responded.

          “Tell me you have something on who killed him, some kind of fiber or hair,” Kangin begged.

          “I’m sorry sir, but so far we’ve found nothing. They apparently washed him with bleach after killing him to cover their tracks,” Shindong explained. Kangin slowly covered Leeteuk back up before returning to his office.

          As he sat down at his desk, an officer knocked on the door. “This package just arrived for you Captain,” he informed.

          “Thank you,” Kangin muttered as he took the box. Opening it up, Kangin almost jumped back at shock of what was inside. From inside the box, Kangin pulled out one of Leeteuk’s mutilated fingers with his wedding ring still attached to it. Underneath was a note that simply read:

_You took the one I loved from me,_

_Now I have taken the one you loved from you._

          Kangin slowly removed the wedding ring from the finger before gazing at it. He thought back in his memories of who could’ve done this, but no one came to mind.

          _*End of Flashback*_

          “You think it really could be the same person?” Siwon wondered.

          “It’s possible,” Kangin stated.

          Donghae hung up his desk phone before informing “That was Shindong from the lab, says he’s going some information we’ve got to see.”

          Siwon and Donghae headed downstairs to the coroner’s office. “What important information did you find Shindong?” Siwon asked. “I’m hoping it was a DNA match.”

          “Sadly, I don’t think that’ll be happening anytime soon,” Shindong stated.

          “What do you mean?” Donghae inquired.

          “Yeah, I thought you said you could get hair samples from other places,” Siwon remembered.

          “Well when I went to check, they were gone,” Shindong revealed.

          “Say what now?” Donghae asked.

          Pulling back the sheet, Shindong revealed the victim’s lower body. “Right around his pubic area where there should be hair, there isn’t. From the looks of it, it was waxed off and then the skin was burned to make the roots stayed covered. I even tried to check for anal hairs, but those were waxed and even bleached, along with that were signs of anal trauma which suggests that he was raped multiple times,” Shindong explained. “You’re dealing with a well-trained killer guys. This son of a bitch knows how to cover all tracks.”

          “So how do we ID him now, if we can’t do a hair sample?” Siwon asked.

          “I’ll have to do a blood sample, but that’ll take twice as long as simply doing a hair or print scan,” Shindong informed. “I’ll send the blood to another lab and should get the results within three to five days.”

          “Three to five days? Shindong within that time, he may grab someone else,” Siwon reminded.

          “Then I suggest you guys find him quick,” Shindong replied.

          Returning back upstairs, Donghae and Siwon informed Kangin “Shindong said that every hair fiber that our victim was waxed and bleached so they’ll have to do a blood sample.”

          “Then all we can do now is look through files and see if we can come up with a pattern while we wait on the results of that test,” Kangin stated.

          That night, Yesung walked out of the precinct building and across the street where a small black car was waiting. Yesung climbed into the passenger seat before buckling up as the car took off. “They figure it out?” Kyuhyun questioned.

          Yesung smirked. “Of course not, they’re fucking slow at this, they think we’re geniuses because we got rid of all hair and finger traces,” he informed.

          Kyuhyun laughed. “Fucking morons, that’s the oldest trick in the book,” he responded. “Did you figure out where our next target will be?”

          “Yep, hacked into his phone records to see he sent a text earlier at 6:48 pm to a friend saying he was on his way to a club not too far from here,” Yesung explained.

          “Awesome,” Kyuhyun replied. Kyuhyun and Yesung arrived outside of the nightclub Delightful and parked close to the entrance. “See him anywhere?”

          Yesung pulled out his tablet and pulled up some text records. “He just sent a text saying he was heading inside, and here’s what he’s wearing tonight, according to an Instagram picture,” Yesung said as he showed Kyuhyun the photo. “Look, there he goes now.”

          Turning to look out of the window, Kyuhyun watched as a blonde Korean man, matching the photo that Yesung had walked into the nightclub. A grin slowly grew across Kyuhyun’s lips as he muttered “Alright, I’ll be back in ten minutes at the latest, you know the drill; wait for my text, kill the lights, and have them back on in ten seconds.” Before getting out of the car, Kyuhyun pocketed a rag into his jacket. “Get the cameras covered too.”

          “Already on it,” Yesung replied as he pulled up the camera system for the nightclub.

          Walking across the street, Kyuhyun entered the club and looked around for the blonde Korean he’d seen. Scanning throughout the place, Kyuhyun spotted his target at the bar. Approaching him, Kyuhyun said “Hello.”

          The blonde turned to him and replied “Hello, are you the one my friends are trying to set me up with?”

          Kyuhyun smirked before answering “No, I don’t know your friends.”

          “Lucky you,” the blonde Korean responded before taking a drink.

          “I’m Cho Kyuhyun,” he introduced.

          “Kim Heechul,” the blonde informed, “So tell me Cho Kyuhyun, what’s a nice looking guy doing in a place like this? Shouldn’t you be in one of the higher class clubs?”

          “Not really my style,” Kyuhyun replied. “You know, you’re very pretty, you remind me of someone I used to date.”

          “Well thanks, but I think I would’ve remembered dating you,” Heechul said before taking another drink.

          “Oh I think you’ll remember me before tonight is over,” Kyuhyun guessed as he discretely texted the word ‘now’ to Yesung.

          “What do you mean?” Heechul asked, before the entire club fell pitch black.

          People began screaming and scattering, but Kyuhyun grabbed Heechul and shoved the washcloth he’d brought in, up against his face as the blonde Korean struggled. After a few seconds, Heechul stopped squirming and his body went completely limp. The club lights then came back on as Kyuhyun carried Heechul outside. “Whoa, whoa, where are you going with him?” a security bouncer asked.

          “Oh, my friend drank a little too much and passed out, so I’m getting him home for the night,” Kyuhyun calmly explained.

          “You haven’t drank any tonight?” the bouncer inquired.

          “No sir,” Kyuhyun replied before taking Heechul across the street to his waiting car.

          Quickly, Yesung climbed out of the car and opened the trunk up for Kyuhyun to place Heechul in. Kyuhyun tied his hands together while Yesung zip tied his legs together. “Gets easier every time,” Yesung said as they closed the trunk door and got back in the car.

          “Yeah it does,” Kyuhyun agreed as they drove off to their hideout with their latest victim.

          The next morning, Donghae and Siwon entered their precinct before noticing there were two new detectives sitting at their desks. “Can we help you two?” Donghae asked.

          One of the raven haired men stood and introduced “I’m Officer Choi Seunghyun and this is Officer Shim Changmin, we’re from the 16th precinct and we’re here to help you on your latest case since you two can’t seem to handle it.”

          “Now just hold on a fucking second, who the hell are you to tell us how we can’t handle our jobs?” Siwon demanded, crossing his arms.

          “I happen to be the top detective in our precinct, so I think I may be able to be of assistance,” Seunghyun responded.

          “It’s true, Seunghyun’s the best,” Changmin agreed.

          “Maybe you’re the best in your precinct, but here, I’m on top,” Siwon informed.

          “Seems like a challenge doesn’t it?” Seunghyun smirked before Kangin opened up his office door.

          “Captain, what are these two doing here?” Siwon questioned.

          “I requested they be temporarily transferred here to help you and Donghae on this case,” Kangin revealed.

          “But Captain –” Siwon started.

          “No buts Siwon, this killer is good, and we need all the help we can get. Seunghyun and Changmin are the best in their department, and will return there once the assignment is finished, so until then, get along with them. I’m not asking you to blow each other, but just act like goddamn adults,” Kangin firmly instructed. “Now I’ve just gotten a call saying a person went missing from a nightclub a few blocks away last night. This might be our guy, so Siwon, you take Seunghyun and find out what you can; and Donghae you and Changmin stay here and continue going through files to see if you can find any patterns from our December cases.”

          “Yes sir,” the four detectives stated.

          As Siwon and Seunghyun walked out of the office, Siwon said “I’m driving.”

          “What makes you think you’re driving?” Seunghyun asked.

          “Number one, this is my precinct, and number two, because I said so,” Siwon replied.

          Seunghyun smirked. “This is going to be a long investigation, I can already feel it.”

          Meanwhile, in the abandoned warehouse, Kyuhyun splashed a bucket of cold water over Heechul to wake him up. The blonde Korean opened his eyes and found he was bound to a chair. “Nice of you to finally wake up,” Kyuhyun muttered. He walked over and brushed his hand over Heechul’s face and through his bangs. “Now then, let’s see if you’re my Minnie or not.” Heechul began to struggle and scream as Kyuhyun wheeled him over to his bed.


	2. Chapter 2

          Siwon and Seunghyun parked across the street from the nightclub Delightful, and walked over, scanning the surrounding area for clues. “Looks like the crime scene technicians are already here,” Seunghyun noticed as they lifted the yellow police tape and headed past the technicians taking photos and dusting for prints.

          “No really, I couldn’t tell,” Siwon sarcastically responded. Before Seunghyun could reply, Siwon introduced to a man “I am Detective Choi Siwon, this is Detective Choi Seunghyun, and we’re here to talk about an apparent kidnapping that occurred last night.”

          “Yes, detectives I am the manager of the establishment, and these gentlemen over here can give you a better explanation of what they think happened, seeing as how they were his friends,” the man explained, turning to a group of four men behind him.

          “Alright thanks,” Seunghyun replied before he and Siwon approached the four.

          The two detectives showed their badges to the witnesses as Siwon repeated “I am Detective Choi Siwon, this is Detective Choi Seunghyun; from what we were told, you gentlemen can tell us more about who was taken.”

          “Can you start by telling us his name?” Seunghyun asked.

          One of them spoke up, stating “His name is Kim Heechul.”

          “Alright, well, what’s your name?” Seunghyun wondered.

          “Han Geng,” the man answered.

          “Alright Han Geng, can you tell us a little about what you think happened last night?” Seunghyun inquired.

          “Well, we got here about nine –” Han Geng started before Siwon turned to the manager of the club.

          “We’re gonna need the security footage you have from last night around nine til closing,” Siwon instructed. The club manager nodded before heading to the back. “Please continue Han Geng.”

          “Well when we got here, we danced for about an hour and then Heechul went to the bar to get us some drinks. All of a sudden the lights went out and everyone was screaming, and when they came back on, we were trying to leave, but we couldn’t find Heechul anywhere; that’s when we figured he had to have been taken,” Han Geng explained.

          “Did you notice if he was talking to anyone particular at the bar?” Seunghyun questioned.

          Han Geng turned to the others. “Did you guys see Heechul talking to anyone?” he asked.

          “Well he talked to several people,” one of the others replied.

          “Can you describe what they look like?” Siwon inquired.

          “We, we didn’t get a good look at any of them,” Han Geng responded. “The lights were really low, so it was difficult to make out anyone’s face from a distance.”

          “Can you think of anything else strange you may have noticed?” Seunghyun wondered.

          “It all happened so fast, that I can’t remember,” Han Geng stated.

          “Alright, well if you can think of anything else that might be helpful, don’t hesitate to call the precinct,” Seunghyun suggested as he handed Han Geng a card with the 18th precinct’s number on it.

          As Siwon and Seunghyun turned, Han Geng stood up and begged “Detectives, please find Heechul, he’s my best friend, and I don’t want to lose him.”

          “We will do everything we can,” Seunghyun promised.

          Siwon and Seunghyun walked towards the back of the club as Siwon muttered “So much for witness recollection being of any use.”

          “Given the circumstances, I’m surprised they remembered as much as they did,” Seunghyun replied.

          “Maybe the video footage can help shed light on the situation, or at least give us a clue,” Siwon figured before knocking on the manager’s office door.

          “Did you get the footage?” Seunghyun asked as they walked inside.

          “Well that’s the thing, there is no footage,” the manager responded.

          “What the fuck do you mean there’s no footage? You said there was video surveillance,” Siwon spat.

          “And there usually is,” the manager said. “Look here, there’s footage from Wednesday night, footage from Thursday night, but last night, for some reason the cameras didn’t record.”

          “Could there be some kind of malfunctioning?” Seunghyun wondered.

          “Well when I checked them this morning everything was fine, see, they’re online now,” the manager showed on the monitor. “There’s no sign of virus or camera damage.”

          “The suspects must’ve done something then,” Seunghyun figured in a quiet tone.

          “What makes you think that?” Siwon asked.

          “Isn’t it strange that the footage just happened to go down on the same night that someone was kidnapped from here?” Seunghyun inquired. “I’m thinking the suspects must’ve done it.”

          “I’d hold off on the thinking until we interview more witnesses,” Siwon suggested as Seunghyun raised one of his eyebrows at him. Turning to the manager, Siwon continued “Do you have anyone on your staff who could be of some use?”

          “The only one I can think of who might have seen something would be the bouncer who checks ID’s out front,” the manager answered.

          “Okay, where might we find him?” Seunghyun wondered.

          “He should be back in for work this evening, but I’ll give him a call and see if he will stop by your precinct before work,” the manager offered.

          “That’d be great, if you could have him come to this address or give us a call, we’d greatly appreciate it,” Seunghyun replied, handing the manager a card, similar to the one he gave Han Geng.

          As Siwon and Seunghyun walked back to the front of the club, they stopped next to some of the forensic specialists as Siwon said “If you find anything helpful, let us know.”

          Walking out to their car, Seunghyun remarked “So what’s the deal with you? Are you always this cheerful when you interrogate witnesses?” When Siwon remained silent, Seunghyun added “Look man, if you’ve got something to say then say it.”

          “I don’t fucking work with partners, I don’t _need_ to work with partners; I do things my way, and I don’t need you to get this case solved,” Siwon growled.

          “Oh is that your answer when victims’ families ask why you haven’t found the killer yet?” Seunghyun responded.

          “Fuck you,” Siwon retorted before climbing into the car.

          “All I’m saying is, is that Changmin and I were assigned to work with you guys for a reason. It’s not to see whose better, it’s to get a goddamn psychopath off the streets,” Seunghyun reminded. “You want us gone, and we want to be gone, so why don’t we just do what your captain says and try to get along until we catch this fucker. I know you want to catch him just as badly as I do.” Siwon was silent on the drive back to the precinct, letting his newly appointed partner’s words sink in.

          Back at the precinct, Donghae and Changmin were still looking through files when the phone rang, prompting Donghae to answer “Detective Lee Donghae.”

          “Hey Donghae, it’s Shindong, I got something interesting down here in the examining room; can you and Siwon head down?” Shindong wondered.

          “Not yet, he’s out getting witness statements, but we’ll head down there as soon as he gets back,” Donghae promised before hanging up.

          “Who was that?” Changmin inquired.

          “The coroner, says he’s got something interesting for us to see, so once the others get back, we’ll all head down there,” Donghae explained before continuing to look over files.

          “Alright cool,” Changmin responded.

          A few minutes later, Siwon and Seunghyun arrived back at the 18th Precinct, where Donghae told them what Shindong had relayed to him. “Let’s head down to see what he’s got to show us,” Siwon suggested, before he, Donghae, Seunghyun, and Changmin walked towards to the coroner’s office.

          “What’d you find Shindong?” Donghae asked as they stepped inside.

          “Well it’s peculiar actually, I –” Shindong started before looking up and seeing two new faces. “Are these the transfers who are helping us?”

          “Yeah, this is Detective Choi Seunghyun and Detective Shim Changmin,” Donghae introduced. “Guys this is Shindong, our best medical examiner in the precinct.”

          “Were you able to identify the most recent victim?” Siwon inquired.

          “Not yet, I had to do a bone marrow test to be absolutely sure the DNA was one hundred percent accurate, and the results from that won’t be back for a few days. However, judging from the bone structure and height of the victim, it’s safe to say that the victim’s age could be between twenty one to twenty seven years old,” Shindong informed. “In addition, I noticed a pattern in how this one was killed, compared to some of the other cold cases we have. I took the note that was found on the victim and on a hunch went back and looked back at the unsolved murders in December, and found that the type of torture that was used on two victims, was almost exact to what this victim suffered.” Shindong pulled out two files from his cabinet and handed one to Siwon and one to Donghae. “The victims were two Chinese college students, identified as Zhou Mi and Zhang Yixing.”

          “I remember this case,” Siwon muttered.

          “What happened?” Changmin asked.

          “They were here on vacation in the Seoul area and were abducted, tortured, mutilated, and dumped in a park,” Siwon explained. “When we went to examine the crime scene, it was all kinds of fucked up.”

          “Their bodies looked like something out of a horror movie,” Donghae added. “It’s hard to imagine what those boys went through.”

          “And if it doesn’t get any worse –” Shindong continued before handing Siwon a third file. Opening it up, the four detectives saw that it was the file of Captain Kangin’s deceased husband Leeteuk. “The pattern continues with the captain’s husband.”

          “So you’re positive that the monster who killed these college students and this guy, is the same one who killed the captain’s spouse?” Seunghyun asked.

          “I’m ninety five percent positive; all four victims share similar mutilation wounds, it’s safe to say that you guys are looking for a serial killer,” Shindong stated.

          “We’re gonna need to borrow these files for a bit,” Siwon informed before the four began to leave the coroner’s office. “Let us know as soon as that bone marrow test comes back.”

          Up in the precinct office, Siwon and Donghae knocked on Kangin’s door before entering, followed closely by Changmin and Seunghyun. “Captain we just spoke with Shindong, and he’s confirming that the same person who murdered those Chinese college kids back in December, also is responsible for murdering the latest victim,” Siwon informed.

          “He also said that this is the same person who murdered your husband, captain,” Donghae added slowly.

          Kangin sat up straighter as his eyes widened. “Are you positive?” he asked.

          “Yes sir,” Donghae confirmed.

          “So we have a serial killer on our hands,” Kangin muttered as he sighed. “Did you find anything out from the nightclub?”

          “We have a witness who didn’t manage to see much, and on top of all that, there was no camera footage to look over,” Seunghyun responded. “However, we do have an employee coming in later for some questions.”

          “Alright, until then, you four carefully dissect those files and try to see if you can connect any dots before time is up for the next victim,” Kangin instructed.

          “Yes sir,” the four said in unison before exiting the captain’s office, none of them seeing Yesung glancing at them from his position over at the IT desks.

          Meanwhile, Kim Heechul groaned quietly as he opened his eyes. Immediately he felt a throbbing pain all over his body, especially in his lower region, and a taste of copper on his tongue, most likely from his bleeding lip. Heechul tried to sit up, but found each of his wrists had been tied to a metal headboard, keeping him in his place. Looking down, Heechul noticed that he wasn’t wearing any clothes; but he couldn’t recall taking his clothes off. Heechul began to yank against the bedframe, trying his hardest to pull himself free from bondage, but froze when he heard a voice, “Good, you’re awake now.”

          Heechul turned his head and saw Kyuhyun walking towards him. Kyuhyun sat down next to Heechul on the bed and slowly ran a hand across Heechul’s thigh. “Don’t touch me,” Heechul demanded, unable to keep his voice from shaking.

          Suddenly Kyuhyun lunged forward and gripped Heechul’s throat tightly for a moment, feeling the blonde Korean swallow nervously. Slowly, Kyuhyun released Heechul’s throat before smirking and muttering “I’ve already touched you.” Heechul’s eyes widened as Kyuhyun laughed quietly; this explained the pain throughout his body that Heechul felt. “Oh stop acting like that, you really enjoyed it.”

          “Enjoyed it, what kind of person enjoys being raped?!” Heechul yelled as he tried to yank his wrists forward, but to no avail.

          Kyuhyun closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “You know I don’t like that word Minnie,” Kyuhyun whispered as he reached out to touch Heechul’s hair.

          “Who the fuck is Minnie?” Heechul demanded as he tried to move away from Kyuhyun’s reach. “I don’t know who Minnie is.”

          Kyuhyun slightly tilted his head to the side before muttering “Aren’t you Minnie?”

          “Look dude, I don’t know who the fuck this Minnie person is, but I can promise you that I’m not him or her,” Heechul responded. Kyuhyun continued scanning over Heechul’s body as he brushed his hand against Heechul’s cheek. The blonde Korean instinctively bit Kyuhyun’s hand, causing Kyuhyun to retract his hand back.

          Looking at the bite mark on his skin, Kyuhyun harshly smacked Heechul across the face and grabbed him, lowly stating “Behave yourself, next time you’ll be punished.” Leaning forward, Kyuhyun licked Heechul’s now red, throbbing cheek before roughly biting at it, causing Heechul to groan in discomfort. Kyuhyun stood up and began to strip himself slowly as he said “Your body doesn’t respond to me properly yet Minnie; it’s almost like it fails to recognize me when I touch you. But I’m not angry, I mean we haven’t been intimate in a while so I know it’s probably just nerves.”

          “W-what the fuck are you –” Heechul started as his voice trembled.

          Kyuhyun shushed Heechul, and placed a fingertip against his lips. “Are you going to bite me again?” he whispered. Heechul nervously nodded and swallowed. “Good boy,” Kyuhyun added, stroking Heechul’s hair. Kyuhyun climbed on top of Heechul and continued “Now, let me help your body remember me.”

          The detectives continued working all day on the files, trying to find anything specific or significant that could help with their case. “Well, we can rule age part of the M.O. for our suspect, the Chinese students, and our previous victim were between the ages of twenty two and twenty five, so that’s something to look at,” Donghae noticed as they wrote down clues on their whiteboard.

          “But what about the captain’s husband? I mean he was in his thirties,” Siwon reminded.

          “He also received the worst torture out of all the other victims; the Chinese students and the most recent victim had their fingertips scorched and cut off, whereas the captain’s husband’s fingers were completely dismembered,” Seunghyun stated.

          “It has to be a vendetta of some kind against the captain,” Changmin said. “How else do you explain such aggression? And to correlate with that, the note that was discovered with the body suggested that our killer has history with the captain.”

          “Wow, that’s actually not a stupid theory,” Siwon commented.

          “Thanks,” Changmin replied with a grin. “I eat Oreos to help me focus.”

          “What?” Siwon asked in a confused tone.

          “Yeah it’s true, when we need Changmin to really focus, he eats Oreos, and I don’t know, it helps him have some kind of breakthrough or something,” Seunghyun confirmed.

          “Are those the ones from the breakroom?” Donghae questioned as he glanced at the Oreo packet that Changmin was currently eating out of.

          “They were the only ones nearby and my stash is empty,” Changmin replied.

          “But those are ours,” Donghae said.

          “Donghae we have worse things to worry about than who is taking snacks out of the fucking breakroom,” Siwon scolded.

          “Gimme some of those,” Donghae requested as he reached over to take some of the cookies out of the package. “They are pretty good, aren’t they?”

          “Yeah man, best cookie ever in my opinion,” Changmin responded.

          Siwon clapped his hands together twice and asked “Can we please focus here?”

          “What do you think I’m trying to do?” Changmin wondered as he stuck another cookie into his mouth.

          “You’re acting like a fucking moron,” Siwon spat, leaning towards Changmin.

          “Hey, you need to back the fuck up right now, and just calm down,” Seunghyun suggested as he stood up and placed his hand on Siwon’s chest, keeping Siwon from getting closer.

          Siwon and Seunghyun glared at one another for a few moments before Siwon shoved Seunghyun’s hand off of him before stating “I’m fine.”

          “Now, to get things back on track, what else about the suspect’s M.O. can we add to the list besides age?” Seunghyun inquired, trying to regain focus of the detectives.

          “Right now, it seems age is all we have to go on, unless you count how they were all tortured in a similar fashion,” Donghae noted.

          “Maybe the employee from the club will be able to help us add to the list,” Siwon figured.

          “Yeah, but when’s he getting here?” Changmin questioned.

          “Excuse me,” came a voice from behind the four detectives.

          The Korean men turned and saw someone standing adjacent to their desks, as Seunghyun asked “Can we help you?”

          “Yes, I was told to come here to answer some questions about last night about the kidnapping at the club,” he informed.

          Siwon and Seunghyun both looked at one another before Siwon suggested “Yes, let’s go somewhere more private and talk.” The two detectives then led the man towards the interrogation room.

          As they walked past the IT group, Yesung saw the man and discretely accessed the microphone and camera for the interrogation room so he could hear just what was going on. Yesung thought to himself, ‘how much did he see, and how much did he remember’?

          Seunghyun sat down at the table across from the club employee as Siwon stood off to the side with his arms crossed over his chest. “Alright, now tell us your side of what you saw happen last night,” Seunghyun requested.

          “Well everything started out normally,” the man explained. “The place started getting crowded around seven, and I was busy checking the ID’s, making sure no one under twenty got in. Well, I’m outside and all of a sudden everyone inside started screaming. I turned to look inside the club, and all the lights were out.”

          “About what time was this?” Siwon questioned.

          “I think it was like a little after eight,” the man recalled.

          “Do you remember seeing anything suspicious?” Seunghyun asked.

          From in the IT area, Yesung sat up straighter, anxious to hear what the man was going to say. “Um, well there was a young man who came out carrying another young man. He said his friend had had too much to drink and he was taking him home, but I don’t know, it just looked strange,” he informed.

          “Strange, what do you mean strange?” Siwon inquired.

          “I mean usually when patrons get drunk, their friends usually walk them out to the car with one arm around their shoulder and one around their back, but this guy was carrying his friend bridal style,” the man clarified.

          Yesung’s eyes widened. That was exactly how Kyuhyun had carried out their victim. Yesung prepared to text Kyuhyun from his phone before he heard Seunghyun ask “Did you get a good look at him?”

          “No, everything happened in such a rush that I didn’t give it a second thought,” the man replied. “All I know is that he had dark brunette hair, and that’s all I remember.”

          Yesung smirked and canceled his text to Kyuhyun; this man was not an imminent threat to them after all. He turned off the cameras and microphone to the interrogation room, and continued with his work. “Alright well thank you for your time, and if anything else useful comes to mind, feel free to call,” Siwon said as he and Seunghyun showed the club employee out.

          “Did you find out anything?” Donghae asked as the two detectives rejoined them.

          “Nothing useful, except for the fact that the suspect carried out the victim bridal style, which even though is strange, doesn’t tell us anything,” Seunghyun stated.

          “What if he was drugged?” Changmin suggested. The other detectives looked at him so Changmin continued “Think about it, if the victim was drunk, he could still be able to walk even if he was on the verge of passing out. However, if he had been drugged and his whole body had been rendered temporarily catatonic, then it would make sense why the suspect would carry him out.”

          “That does seem plausible,” Siwon agreed.

          “See, the power of the cookie,” Changmin retorted before stuffing another treat into his mouth.

          “Well it’s getting late, so why don’t we call it a day and continue tomorrow,” Donghae suggested.

          “Sounds like a good idea,” Seunghyun said as the detectives all stood.

          As they got ready to leave, Donghae walked over to the IT desks and asked Yesung “Hey man, how was your day?”

          “Pretty slow for a Saturday,” Yesung replied as he turned off his computer and stood up.

          “Any interesting plans for tonight?” Donghae wondered.

          “Just hanging out with my roommate,” Yesung informed. “We’re actually entertaining a visitor now.”

          “Oh cool,” Donghae said.

          “What about you, any plans?” Yesung asked.

          “Not really, just probably gonna go home and think about the case,” Donghae informed.

          “Well try not to think about it too hard,” Yesung joked.

          Donghae laughed before saying “Alright dude, see you tomorrow.”

          Yesung headed out of the precinct alongside the other officers, to where his car was waiting. After a half hour of driving, Yesung had gotten off the main roads and onto the road that led to the warehouse where he and Kyuhyun stayed. Upon arriving at the warehouse, Yesung pressed a button on his garage door opener and watched as the loading dock door of the warehouse rose up, allowing Yesung to pull the car inside the warehouse. Getting out, Yesung walked over to the other end of the warehouse where Kyuhyun currently sat, looking at their victim, still bound to the bed. “Any breakthroughs while I was gone?” Yesung inquired.

          Kyuhyun nodded. “He still denies being Minnie,” Kyuhyun muttered. “Have the detectives found our trace yet?”

          Yesung smirked. “No, they’re still at a dead end. The witnesses were of no help in identifying you at the club, so we’re still good,” he replied. “Is he sleeping or did you knock him out?”

          “Knocked him out,” Kyuhyun responded as he stood up. “I told him not to bite me again, and he did, so I had to punish him.” Going over to Heechul, Kyuhyun gently smacked him on the face a few times, as Yesung leaned back against one of the warehouse beams and pulled his lighter out of his pocket.

          Slowly, Heechul opened his eyes and groaned before seeing Yesung. “Oh thank God, hey, help me, keep this crazy motherfucker away from me!” Heechul pleaded, struggling against the restraints.

          Yesung flicked his lighter a few times before calmly answering “Hate to break this to you, but we’re both crazy motherfuckers.”

          “Minnie, have you learned your lesson?” Kyuhyun asked, stroking Heechul’s hair.

          “Fuck you man, I told you I’m not that Minnie person, and I never will be, so just get the fuck away from me!” Heechul demanded.

          Kyuhyun’s eyes grew cloudy as he reached for one of his knives and then gripped Heechul’s throat. Leaning in close, Kyuhyun growled “I told you not to speak to me like that, didn’t I?” Heechul shook as Kyuhyun lightly let the knife blade glide across his face, almost cutting him. “You better watch your tongue before you lose it.” Kyuhyun then quickly sliced the skin on Heechul’s cheek, causing the blonde Korean to wince.

          “Want me to burn some sense into him?” Yesung offered as he watched a flame dance around his lighter.

          “That won’t be necessary, maybe this will help Minnie recall his past,” Kyuhyun said. Kneeling down next to the bed, Kyuhyun pulled out a small suitcase and opened it up; inside were clothes packed in Ziploc bags, a photograph, and a camera. Kyuhyun retrieved a shirt out of one of the bags and pressed the material to his face, inhaling the scent. “Your scent has changed Minnie, it’s not like it once was anymore,” he muttered to Heechul. He set the shirt down and grabbed the photograph, showing it to the restrained Korean. “Remember this? Remember when this was taken? We were so happy together.”

          “I don’t remember that because I wasn’t there,” Heechul bravely defended.

          Kyuhyun laughed before packing everything back up and saying “You know, I’m just about fucking sick and tired of listening to you deny who you are.”

          “I’m not denying anything, I’m stating a fact. I am not this Minnie person!” Heechul replied.

          Kyuhyun slapped Heechul across the face as he breathed with rage, and muttered “Fine, if you’re not my Minnie, then you’ll be punished for being an imposter.”

          “You wanna do this now or tomorrow?” Yesung wondered. “I need to know so I can set the coffee on the right time.”

          “We’ll do it in the morning, after we’ve all rested,” Kyuhyun decided as he continued glaring daggers at Heechul. “Help me get him strapped to that chair.” After Yesung and Kyuhyun got Heechul tied up to a chair next to one of the support beams, Kyuhyun duct taped his mouth shut before pouring more chloroform onto a washcloth before whispering “Pray to God that you don’t wake up in the morning, you won’t like what awaits you if you do.” He then shoved the chloroformed washcloth in Heechul’s face and watched as the blonde Korean struggled and passed out after a few seconds.

          Meanwhile, Donghae pulled his keys out and unlocked his apartment door before stepping inside, where he was greeted, “Hey Donghae.”

          “Hey Sungmin, how was your day?” Donghae wondered as he greeted his cousin.

          “Busy, the coffee shop was packed until closing, so I didn’t get home til about an hour ago,” Sungmin informed. “I saved you some dinner in the microwave if you want any.”

          “Alright thanks,” Donghae replied as he walked into the kitchenette.

          The blonde Korean stood up from the living room area and walked over to the kitchen. “Anything interesting happen at work?” Sungmin asked.

          “We’ve got some help from another precinct to catch a serial killer on the loose,” Donghae said.

          “A serial killer?” Sungmin repeated.

          “Yeah, but so far we can’t find any links or anything like that,” Donghae explained. “Maybe I can go back and cross check those December cold cases again.”

          Donghae headed over to the table where his laptop sat and began to research information before Sungmin said “You’re gonna overwork yourself if you don’t relax Donghae.”

          “I know, but the sooner this psychopath is captured, the safer the Gangnam area will be again,” Donghae reminded. “I mean you should see the shit this guy does to his victims Sungmin, it’s gruesome.”

          “I’ll pass,” Sungmin declined. “I guess since you’re working, I’ll just turn in for the night.”

          “Okay, sorry we couldn’t talk longer, but –” Donghae started.

          “I know, I know, the case comes first,” Sungmin responded before heading into their shared bedroom. The blonde gazed out their window and sighed before climbing into bed for the night.

          The next morning, Sungmin awoke and found that Donghae’s bed was untouched, meaning that the officer had slept at the table again. Sungmin got up and walked into the next room and sure enough found Donghae asleep at the kitchen table. Sungmin shook his head before brewing some tea. Suddenly, Donghae’s phone rang, causing the detective to quickly raise up. “Detective Lee Donghae,” he answered.

          “Hey Donghae, it’s Seunghyun, are you at the precinct yet?” Seunghyun wondered.

          “Not yet,” Donghae replied as he stood up and walked over to the kitchenette where Sungmin handed him a cup of tea. “What’s up?”

          “There are some people in here asking about a missing person, and may be one of the unidentified victims,” Seunghyun informed.

          “Alright I’m on my way,” Donghae promised before hanging up. “Gotta go little cousin, but I’ll see you later.”

          “Okay, bye Donghae,” Sungmin called, watching Donghae exit their apartment.

          As he walked down the stairs, Donghae received another phone call. “Detective Lee Donghae,” he answered.

          “Hey Donghae, it’s Shindong, the bone marrow test came back early on our victim, and we’ve properly identified him,” the coroner informed.

          “Alright hold those results until me and the others get there; we’ll be as soon as everyone gets in,” Donghae replied before getting into his police car and heading towards the precinct.


	3. Chapter 3

          Kim Heechul groaned as he opened his eyes up and found Kyuhyun looking at him. “What, what do you want?” he tiredly asked.

          Kyuhyun stood up and slowly approached the restrained blonde. He reached out and lightly touched his face, muttering “What do I want? I want to hear his voice, I want to breathe his scent, I want to touch his body, I want my Minnie back, but you couldn’t give that to me.”

          “Look man –” Heechul started.

          “Shut up!” Kyuhyun screamed abruptly. “You, you’re just like all the other imposters. You go around posting and bragging on your social media accounts about how good you look, practically rubbing it in my face how much you look like him, and then have the audacity to deny being my Minnie.”

          “What are you talking about?” Heechul questioned.

          “Look at this!” Kyuhyun yelled as he grabbed Yesung’s tablet off the table and showed Heechul the photos from his Instagram and Facebook accounts. “Look at how you dress, look how you do your hair, it’s all like how Minnie’s is,” Kyuhyun whispered as angry tears began to well up. He placed his hand under Heechul’s chin and raised his head up. “You did it on purpose, didn’t you? You thought it would be a funny joke to pull didn’t you?”

          Heechul groaned as Kyuhyun began to squeeze his face. “I’m not trying to play a trick on you, this is who I really am,” Heechul replied as tears formed in his eyes.

          Kyuhyun slowly released Heechul and smirked before laughing quietly. “This is who you really are, huh? This is who you really are?!” he demanded. The dark brunette Korean punched Heechul’s face before he untied his captive from the chair, and dragged him over to the other side of the warehouse, where he stuck Heechul’s bound wrists on a hook before hoisting him slightly off the ground. “Well, let me show you who I really am.”

          Donghae entered the 18th precinct and found two young Korean men sitting next to Siwon’s desk. “What’s going on?” he wondered.

          “These are the guys I was telling you about earlier,” Seunghyun reminded as he leaned against Siwon’s chair.

          “They came in to file a missing person’s report, and we’re trying to see if this person matches our victim,” Siwon added. He turned back to the two boys. “Now to start with, what are both of your names?”

          “Kang Dong-ho,” one stated.

          “Hwang Min-hyun,” the other added.

          “Okay boys, now tell us about your friend and when he went missing,” Siwon requested.

          As Siwon and Seunghyun listened to the two friends tell their story, Changmin approached Donghae. “Hey, the coroner called and said we need to come see him ASAP,” he said.

          “Oh right,” Donghae replied, having put Shindong’s request on the backburner.

          Donghae and Changmin headed down to the coroner’s office and were greeted by Shindong. “What’d you want to show us?” Changmin wondered.

          “I got the DNA lab results in early for our unidentified victim,” Shindong stated. “According to our findings, our victim is twenty two year old Choi Min-ki; there’s pretty much nothing else new I can tell you at this point.”

          “Alright thanks Shindong,” Donghae replied as he took the victim’s file and followed Changmin back up to the main precinct office. As they walked towards Siwon and Seunghyun, Donghae stopped next to Yesung and asked “Hey, can you do a social media search of Choi Min-ki for me? Find out where he was, what he did, anything in the past couple of weeks that could be relevant.”

          “I’m on it,” Yesung agreed as he began typing away on his computer.

          Going back over to their partners, Donghae said “Shindong identified our victim as twenty two year old Choi Min-ki.”

          The officers watched as the two Korean men in front of them gasped. “I’m guessing, this is who you were looking for?” Seunghyun inquired.

          Dong-ho and Min-hyun nodded. “We never called him Min-ki though, all his friends called him Ren,” Min-hyun muttered as tears formed.

          Dong-ho produced a photograph on his phone of the three of them all hanging out together. “He was so nice and reserved, I don’t know of anyone who’d want to hurt him,” he added.

          “May I borrow your phone a moment?” Donghae requested. After receiving a nod from Dong-ho, Donghae took the phone over to Yesung and showed him the picture. “Did you find anyone named Choi Min-ki who looks like this?”

          I definitely have, Yesung thought to himself. “Not yet, surprisingly, there are a lot of people with that name,” Yesung responded.

          “Well is there anything you can do to make it search quicker?” Donghae wondered.

          “Let me try filtering it down to age, hair color, things like that,” Yesung offered. After putting in the specific qualities of the victim, it still showed nothing.

          Donghae sighed before remembering something. “Wait, his friends said he was nicknamed Ren; try searching for a Ren,” Donghae suggested.

          Yesung did as he was told and replied “Got him. Found a Choi “Ren” Min-ki on Facebook and Instagram. It’ll take me a few minutes to piece together something.”

          “Alright thanks man,” Donghae said before rejoining the detectives. He handed Dong-ho his phone back and informed “We are sorry to tell you this, but our coroner just confirmed that the body we found a couple of days ago is in fact Choi Min-ki’s.”

          “Really?” Siwon and Seunghyun both asked as they turned to Donghae and Changmin.

          Min-hyun and Dong-ho both gasped before Min-hyun asked “Are, are you positive it’s him?”

          “Yes, DNA doesn’t lie,” Changmin confirmed.

          “Our condolences on your loss,” Donghae replied.

          “How did he die? Was he murdered?” Min-hyun questioned.

          “Yes, he –” Donghae started before Siwon stopped him.

          “We are still looking into his case and will notify you once we find the perpetrator,” Siwon informed. “Thank you for your time gentlemen, and once again, our apologies for the loss of your friend.”

          “What the hell Siwon, why wouldn’t you let me tell them?” Donghae inquired.

          “Have you honestly learned nothing in your three years of detective work? You for no reason, go into detail about how a victim was murdered, especially a grisly one like that,” Siwon reprimanded.

          “They had a right to know,” Donghae argued.

          “You honestly wanted them to have the images of their friend being tortured placed into their minds?” Siwon asked as he and Donghae looked at one another angrily.

          “Donghae, I found out some information about your victim,” Yesung called from over at the IT desks.

          The detectives rushed over to Yesung’s desk as Donghae asked “What have you got?”

          “So according to his last Facebook post, he was going to spend the day in Dosan Park and take some photos. Going off that, when I checked his Instagram account, the final pictures he posted before his abduction were of Dosan Park,” Yesung explained.

          “So it’s safe to assume he was taken from the park,” Seunghyun commented. “Did you check his SNS to see if he’d texted anyone strange, or received any suspicious messages?”

          “Nothing unusual popped up,” Yesung replied.

          “Did he go with anyone?” Changmin wondered.

          “Not that I can tell, from the photos and his messages, it appears he went there alone,” Yesung said.

          “Judging by what his friends said, it makes sense,” Siwon stated.

          “What did his friends say?” Donghae inquired, seeing as how he and Changmin weren’t caught up on that part.

          “Dong-ho and Min-hyun both said that Min-ki had felt strange lately and had expressed that he wanted to go out and clear his head for a bit,” Siwon informed.

          “Strange, what do you mean strange?” Changmin asked.

          “Min-hyun said something about how Min-ki had recently started feeling like he was being watched, but they didn’t believe him, and said it was just all in his head. That’s when Min-ki said he was going to spend a day at the park and messaged his friends. They offered to go with him, but he said he wanted to go alone and just try and relax. That was the last they heard from him,” Seunghyun explained.

          “So is it safe to say that he was taken in or around Dosan Park?” Donghae asked.

          “Yeah, we can probably assume that,” Siwon agreed.

          Going over to their giant whiteboard map of the Gangnam area, Donghae took a dry erase marker and put a star on Dosan Park, before placing Choi Min-ki’s photo near the location with a magnet. “And then we discovered his body just off the campus of Gangnam University,” Donghae noted as he made another star on the forested area near Gangnam University.

          “Where did those Chinese kids get abducted from?” Seunghyun inquired.

          “That part we don’t know, but we did find their bodies washed up on the Han River,” Siwon informed as he took another dry erase marker and placed a star on the location of the Han River where they found Zhou Mi and Zhang Yixing’s bodies, before magneting their pictures onto the whiteboard as well.

          “The captain’s husband was found in a back alley at a restaurant in Northern Gangnam,” Donghae added as he starred a final location on the map and stuck Leeteuk’s picture on the spot.

          “And finally our latest victim, Kim Heechul, was taken from the night club Delightful and has yet to be found,” Changmin said as Donghae starred the night club and placed a picture of Heechul on the location that Yesung had retrieved off of his social media.

          “Alright, let’s see if we can make any more connections with our victims,” Siwon suggested as he and Donghae stood back from the whiteboard, allowing all four detectives to look at what they had so far.

          “Look at this, the first three victims had either black or brunette hair, whereas after the captain’s husband was murdered, the hair color drastically changes to blonde,” Changmin noted.

          “Do you think something’s significant about it?” Seunghyun wondered.

          “Plus I mean, if this guy’s goal was to get revenge on the captain by killing his husband, then why continue killing even after the fact?” Donghae added.

          Changmin took a bite out of an Oreo cookie and continued scanning the board before offering “What if there were multiple motives?”

          “That’s not a bad theory and actually makes sense,” Siwon agreed.

          “So you’re saying that the suspect had an alternate motive for murdering the blondes than he did for murdering the college students and the captain’s husband?” Donghae checked.

          “Exactly, psychologically it makes sense,” Changmin replied as he bit into another cookie.

          “I told you he has moments of genius,” Seunghyun responded. “They’re like eclipses; rare but beautiful to witness.”

          “Okay so hair color is something we can add to his current M.O,” Donghae said as he wrote ‘blonde’ underneath their M.O. list.

          “Guys did you notice something strange?” Seunghyun inquired as he glanced at the board some more. “Look at where the victims were taken versus where they were dumped.”

          “Oh yeah,” Siwon agreed. “They appear to be taken from highly populated areas, yet discarded in rural, isolated areas.”

          “And no one managed to see any of them get taken?” Donghae asked.

          “Well if Min-ki was in the park, then he could easily be taken without anyone noticing, and Heechul was taken when there was chaos going on in the club, so it was difficult for anyone to pay attention and spot a possible kidnapping,” Changmin reminded.

          Kangin emerged from his office and asked the detectives “What have you found so far?”

          “We’ve found a small basis for M.O.,” Siwon informed.

          Kangin glanced over the information that the detectives had and replied “Good, glad to see you four working together to get this solved. Where are we on identifying our victim?”

          “Shindong got the results back this morning, and he was identified as Choi Min-ki,” Donghae notified.

          “Captain, can you think of any reason why our suspect would suddenly change from brunettes to blondes?” Changmin asked.

          “I still can’t figure out why he killed my husband and what kind of personal vendetta he has against me,” Kangin confessed.

          “You can’t think of any enemies who would want to get back at you?” Seunghyun inquired.

          “Well the note he sent me said that I took the one person he loved from him, but I can’t recall any criminals who swore vengeance on something like that,” Kangin explained. “Okay, you four go to lunch and then regroup and keep on top of it.”

          “Yes sir,” the four replied in unison.

          “Where should we eat?” Changmin wondered.

          “Yeah, what’s good around this area?” Seunghyun added.

          “We could go to this café that’s just about ten minutes from here,” Donghae suggested.

          “Sure, sounds good,” Changmin agreed.

          After the four detectives arrived at the café Donghae had told them about, they walked inside and up to the counter. “Hey Sungmin,” Donghae called over to his blonde cousin.

          “Hi Donghae, you guys here on lunch break?” Sungmin wondered as he looked at the accompanying officers.

          “Yeah, guys, this is my cousin Sungmin, he and I are roommates,” Donghae informed. “Sungmin, you know about my partner Siwon, and this is Seunghyun and Changmin; they’re helping us with our current investigation.”

          “Well it’s nice to meet you guys,” Sungmin replied with a smile.

          When the detectives had received their food and drinks, they sat down at a table and began to eat before Changmin asked “How old is your cousin Donghae?”

          “Twenty three, why? Do you think he’s cute?” Donghae said with a laugh.

          “Well, he kinda seems to fit the suspect’s M.O., don’t you think?” Changmin whispered. “He’s blonde, within the age range, and he’s feminine looking.”

          “What do you mean he’s feminine looking?” Donghae inquired. “What does that have to do with our victims?”

          “They were also feminine looking,” Changmin stated.

          “Come to think of it, they were all feminine looking,” Seunghyun realized.

          “So what Changmin, are you telling me that you think my cousin could be a potential victim? That’s impossible,” Donghae promised.

          “Why, just because you’re a detective, you think that your family is fucking safer than others?” Seunghyun questioned. “Our families are in more danger because we’re cops.”

          “Guys, don’t worry, nothing is gonna happen to Sungmin, because he sticks to the same routine and never meets anyone new, hell he’s never even dated before,” Donghae calmly said.

          “Just tell Sungmin to be cautious if he’s out alone anywhere,” Siwon suggested.

          When they returned to the precinct, Yesung called Donghae over to his desk. “So I took the liberty of putting you guys’ updated M.O. into the data bases to see if any known criminals fit the description, along with the style of murder and torture,” Yesung explained. “And the closest person who popped up is Kim Won-sik, also known in the crime world as Ravi. He’s got multiple arrests on drug possession and distribution, murder, attempted rape, grand larceny, forced prostitution, and resisting arrest.”

          “God damn, this guy has done everything,” Donghae replied, looking over Ravi’s file.

          “It’s also believed he has ties to Korea’s black market and has been working his way up since his late teens,” Yesung added.

          “Is he currently incarcerated?” Donghae wondered.

          “No, he was released in February after his appeal was approved. Many are speculating he either bribed or threatened someone to get him out,” Yesung informed. “But all his murder victims were blondes, young men, and tortured. There’s a good chance, he could be your guy.”

          “Alright thanks for your help Yesung, I’ll show this to the others,” Donghae thanked before turning to walk back to the other detectives, not noticing a grin appear across Yesung’s face. “Okay guys, Yesung did some in depth research for us and he thinks he found a possible suspect and lead that we can follow.”

          “Awesome, who’s the suspect?” Siwon inquired.

          “His name is Kim Won-sik, also known as –” Donghae started.

          “Ravi,” Seunghyun and Changmin finished in unison.

          “You guys dealt with him before?” Donghae questioned.

          “Oh yeah, this son of a bitch is crazy,” Seunghyun confirmed. “We’ve worked a few of his cases before, and he has absolutely no fear of police or pretty much anyone. He has many underground followers who do anything he commands; Ravi is very powerful and doesn’t give up easily.”

          “Then why doesn’t he remain incarcerated if he’s powerful and dangerous?” Siwon wondered.

          “He always finds a way out, the powerful have that advantage,” Changmin replied.

          “Well he fits what we’re looking for,” Donghae responded.

          “We need to show this to the captain before we take action, because it’s gonna be dangerous just approaching him without backup,” Seunghyun suggested.

          “Are you sure this guy could be our perp?” Kangin questioned as he looked over Ravi’s file.

          “Yes sir, I mean he’s violent, relentless, has the methods and means to kill anyone he wants, it’s our safest bet right now,” Donghae replied.

          “Very well, before we arrest him, we need to catch him with evidence that will hold up. You four stake out his current location and once you find probable cause, you move in with, and only with, the SWAT team and bring him in for questioning,” Kangin instructed.

          “Yes sir,” the four detectives answered before leaving Kangin’s office.

          “Okay we need to get a vehicle that’ll fit all four of us, and that will be a good disguise,” Siwon stated as they walked back over to their desks.

          “I’m on it,” Changmin promised as he rushed outside the precinct to the back lot where they kept their larger vehicles that were used for stakeout investigations.

          Seunghyun, Siwon, and Donghae gathered up Ravi’s file, as well as photos of the victims before Donghae approached Yesung. “Hey man, we’re heading out to do a stakeout on that lead you gave us. Notify us if anything comes up while we’re gone,” Donghae requested.

          “You got it, you guys be careful out there, there are lots of crazy people out there,” Yesung precautioned as he watched the detectives exit the precinct building.

          “Alright where’s Changmin with our stakeout vehicle?” Siwon asked as they stood on the steps of the precinct, waiting for the missing detective.

          “He should be coming soon,” Donghae figured.

          Suddenly, Changmin honked the horn of the vehicle he’d selected as he parked next to the sidewalk. “Ready guys?” he energetically inquired from the driver’s seat before he climbed out.

          “Changmin, what the hell is this?” Siwon questioned as he glanced at the vehicle.

          “What, you don’t like it? I think it’s perfect, it blends in well,” Changmin responded.

          “It’s a goddamn ice cream truck,” Siwon stated.

          “What’s your point?” Changmin innocently asked.

          “We told you to get something that would easily blend in to the surroundings,” Seunghyun added.

          “It was the only thing big enough to hold all of us,” Changmin revealed.

          “I like it,” Donghae said.

          “Yes, that’s because idiots of a feather flock together,” Siwon remarked.

          They opened up the back doors of the ice cream truck and climbed inside, sitting down inside of the police converted vehicle. “See, it’s got all the stuff we’ll need, and it even comes with this,” Changmin noted as he pushed a button on the dashboard. A high pitched melody began to emit from the ice cream truck. “They didn’t disable the ice cream tune.”

          “Lucky us,” Siwon muttered.

          “Oh c’mon Siwon, what’s the downside to having this as our stakeout vehicle?” Donghae wondered from the back.

          All of a sudden, there was a knock on the side of the ice cream truck. The detectives cautiously opened up side door to discover a cluster of children standing next to the ice cream truck shouting for frozen treats. “Do you see the dilemma now?” Siwon asked, looking over at Donghae.

          “We’re sorry children, but we don’t actually have any ice cream, we’re police officers,” Donghae apologized as he smiled at the children.

          “He has some,” a child pointed out.

          Turning, Seunghyun, Siwon, and Donghae saw Changmin eating an ice cream cone. “Where in the hell did you get those?” Siwon demanded.

          “I found some cookies and cream cones in the breakroom and I knew we needed snacks,” Changmin replied as he showed the detectives the box of ice cream cones.

          “Give me that,” Siwon said as he snatched the box from Changmin. He then began handing out the ice cream cones to the children. “Here you go children, take these far away from Officer Changmin.”

          As soon as all the children had left, Seunghyun jumped into the driver’s seat and began to drive the ice cream truck down the streets of Gangnam before stating “Ravi might be hiding out in his usual place, so we will try there first.”

          When they had reached their destination, Seunghyun put the ice cream truck in park as Changmin said “Alright guys, get comfortable, we could be here a while.”

          “Have you guys had to stake him out before?” Siwon inquired.

          “Yeah, it took about nineteen hours though,” Seunghyun informed. “This guy is very meticulous.”

          “Great, looks like we could be here all night,” Donghae added.

          A few hours later, after the sun had gone down, Yesung clocked out of work and walked out of the precinct. “Kyuhyun, I’m back,” he announced after returning back to the warehouse. “Do anything interesting while I was gone?”

          “Come see,” Kyuhyun beckoned.

          Yesung walked over to where Kyuhyun still had Heechul strung up and found a gruesome sight. “Well this is new,” Yesung calmly noted.

          “Yeah he really pissed me off, so I decided to punish him slowly. What better way to slowly torture someone than by skinning them alive?” Kyuhyun wondered as he gazed at his victim. “I’ve only done the bottom half so far, because he kept passing out, but he’ll be finished by tomorrow. Then we can wash him in bleach as a precautionary before dumping the body.”

          “What are you gonna do with the skin?” Yesung inquired.

          “Probably burn it and bury the ashes out back,” Kyuhyun figured.

          “Will I get to burn it?” Yesung asked as his eyes lit up at the idea of burning something.

          “Yeah, you can burn it,” Kyuhyun agreed. “Do you wanna go ahead and burn off the fingertips?”

          “Sure, I need to unwind anyways,” Yesung stated as he pulled his lighter out of his pocket and began to burn Heechul’s fingertips, listening to the blonde scream against the gag in his mouth.

          “So what happened with those detectives today?” Kyuhyun questioned.

          “Well, they were starting to slowly piece everything together, but don’t worry, I’ve got everything taken care of,” Yesung remarked.

          “How so?” Kyuhyun inquired.  

          “I put them on the trail of another criminal who has a record,” Yesung informed.

          Kyuhyun smirked. “Good choice, that’ll buy us at least another twenty four hours before they start tracking us again, and by that time, it’ll be too late to save this one.”

          As Yesung burned off the final fingertip on Heechul, he continued flicking his lighter as he walked over to the table and picked up his tablet. “I’ve actually found several choices for our next try,” he stated, showing Kyuhyun the blonde Koreans he’d found through social media accounts. “Keep in mind, it’s not changed much from last time.”

          Kyuhyun took the tablet and scrolled through the hundreds of Koreans that were presented. “I’ll have to look for Minnie later, I’m not done playing for tonight,” he said, putting the tablet back down. Standing up, Kyuhyun grabbed a small scalpel and approached Heechul, removing the gag from his mouth. He listened to the blonde cry profusely before he stroked the back of his fingers over Heechul’s cheek. Leaning forward, Kyuhyun whispered “Now you see just how far I’ll go to find my Minnie, and what happens to those who lie to me and try to imitate him.” Heechul continued to scream and cry before Kyuhyun growled “Shut up, you did this to yourself. Now you’re gonna be punished for your deception.” Kyuhyun shoved the gag back into Heechul’s mouth as he continued slicing away his skin, listening to the muffled cries of the blonde Korean.


	4. Chapter 4

           Through the long hours of the night, Seunghyun, Siwon, Donghae, and Changmin sat in their ice cream truck stakeout vehicle, hoping to see some kind of reasonable cause to infiltrate Ravi’s hideout. “It’s almost five a.m., and still nothing happening,” Siwon yawned. “Donghae are you sure this guy’s good for the suspect?”

          “Yeah, Yesung did extensive research on him, I don’t know why he wouldn’t be a plausible suspect,” Donghae defended.

          “Guys, look, there are people going in,” Changmin noticed as he gazed at Ravi’s hideout through some binoculars.

          The other three detectives gathered around Changmin and squinted to see three men in black coats walk towards an abandoned warehouse. “Can you make an identification?” Seunghyun asked.

          Changmin continued to look carefully towards the men, and nodded. “Yeah, I can definitely tell one of them is Ravi, I can see the bright red hair,” he confirmed. “He’s carrying a briefcase, but I can’t make out what’s in it.”

          “Should we intercept?” Donghae inquired.

          “We should probably check with the Captain first,” Siwon figured, reaching for his radio, before Seunghyun stopped him.

          “If we wait too long, we could lose him; Ravi may leave before backup arrives,” Seunghyun said.

          “Well we can’t just go in there without backup Seunghyun, it’s way too dangerous, remember what happened to the other detectives who tried it?” Changmin reminded.

          “But that was two of them, and we have four of us,” Seunghyun stated.

          “That may be all fine and dandy at your precinct, but here we go by procedure, and the fact that this son of a bitch has gotten off on so many charges only makes things worse. We have to be air tight about this,” Siwon replied. He turned away from the others and radioed the 18th precinct. “This is Detective Choi Siwon, requesting backup to our current location.”

          “Did you locate the suspect?” Kangin radioed.

          “Yes sir, we have him entering what appears to be some kind of abandoned warehouse, approximately an hour away from the precinct,” Siwon described.

          “Alright, wait for backup before intercepting,” Kangin instructed. “We have to be strategic with this guy.”

          “Yes captain,” Siwon answered before turning to the other detectives. “Okay guys, captain says to wait for backup before we take in Ravi; he says they’re on their way now.”

          “The 18th precinct is an hour away, by that time, Ravi could be gone,” Seunghyun predicted as he began loading his weapon and slipping on a vest.

          “What the fuck are you doing?” Siwon questioned.

          “Not waiting around,” Seunghyun responded before opening the door of their vehicle and climbing out.

          “Shit,” Siwon growled before slipping his vest on quickly and stepping out. “Seunghyun you are way out of line by doing this.”

          “Why, because I wanna get shit done and not wait around?” Seunghyun questioned.

          “Dude, I’m all for getting shit done fast, but we have orders to wait,” Donghae reminded as he and Changmin stepped out of the vehicle as well.

          “Orders or not, this guy is dangerous and needs to be taken off the street before he hurts anyone else,” Seunghyun replied.

          “If you go in there guns blazing, we could all end up killed,” Siwon argued. “We need to wait and –”

          “Look, you guys can stay here and wait for backup, but I’m going in before this son of a bitch gets away again,” Seunghyun stated before moving towards the warehouse.

          “I really hate him,” Siwon mumbled. “C’mon guys, its suicide for him to go in alone.” Siwon, Changmin, and Donghae followed Seunghyun closely, keeping an eye out in all directions. They quietly snuck into the dark warehouse, keeping their guns at the ready.

          The detectives heard talking coming from the back room of the warehouse, as Changmin whispered “Sounds like at least eight or nine guys in the back.”

          “Wonderful,” Siwon sarcastically muttered as they all continued gradually moving towards the back room.

          Standing outside the door to the back room, the detectives discretely gazed inside where they saw and heard what was occurring. “Did you bring it?” Ravi questioned as he crossed his arms and looked at three men in front of him.

          “That depends on if you have what we’re looking for,” one of the men responded.

          Ravi smirked. “Do I ever not come through for you guys?” he asked.

          “Ravi you know allies can change every day,” another reminded.

          “Have I ever given you a reason to doubt me? Of course not, because you have never given me a reason to distrust you,” Ravi stated confidently with a grin across his lips.

          “Just show me the inventory Ravi,” the first man requested.

          “Then you’ll show me the money?” Ravi asked.

          “As always,” the man replied.

          Snapping his fingers, four of Ravi’s assumed henchmen brought in two large black cases and sat them down in front of the three men before backing up next to Ravi. Two of the men knelt down and opened up the cases, revealing pounds of drugs inside. “This wasn’t all that was promised to us Ravi,” the man reminded.

          “Look underneath,” Ravi insisted.

          Moving the drugs aside, the men found guns stashed underneath. “It seems satisfactory enough,” the man agreed before handing Ravi the briefcase he’d brought. “Here, ten million Won as requested.”

          “It’s always a pleasure doing business with you Jaebeom,” Ravi said as the two shook hands.

          “Alright, they’ve made a deal, let’s go in on three,” Seunghyun whispered to the other three detectives outside the door. “One, two –”

          But before Seunghyun could finish his statement, the four officers hear guns cocking behind them. The four turned slowly to see two men pointing machine guns at them. “Put your guns down slowly,” one of them demanded. The detectives looked at one another and reluctantly complied before the two men forced the detectives into the back room. “Ravi, look what we found snooping around outside.”

          “We weren’t snooping, we were –” Donghae started before one of the armed men knocked him in the stomach with the end of his gun.

          “You shut up,” he demanded as Donghae bent over and gripped his stomach before Changmin helped him stand back up.

          “Now, now Leo, there’s no need for violence when they are unarmed, at least not yet, you and Ken put the guns down,” Ravi said as he grinned at the detectives before Leo and Ken lowered their weapons. “Please officers, join us, we were just about to celebrate a recent sale amongst friends.”

          “You’re selling drugs and weapons illegally Ravi; you’re putting potentially thousands in danger,” Seunghyun reminded.

          “Not to mention the young men you tortured and murdered,” Siwon added.

          Suddenly, Jaebeom cocked his gun and held it up to Siwon’s head. “What the fuck did you just say?” the heavily tattooed Korean demanded.

          “Park Jaebeom, calm down dude,” Ravi said before his friend reluctantly removed his weapon from the officer’s skull and backed up. “Now then, what is this about me murdering and torturing young men?”

          “We have found several victims over the past year that fit your M.O.; blonde, young, and seemingly tortured to death,” Siwon continued.

          Ravi smirked. “Well, joke’s on you guys, I haven’t done anything of that nature in almost two years.” When he saw the detectives seemed to remain skeptic, Ravi asked “Would you like me to prove it?”

          “How are you gonna do that?” Changmin questioned.

          “Describe to me how they were when you found them,” Ravi requested.

          “We’re not telling you the details of our cases,” Siwon retorted.

          “Well that’s the only way I can be of any assistance,” Ravi said with another grin across his lips.

          The detectives sighed before Donghae spoke up. “Our victims were burned, had their fingers cut off, all their hair taken off, their skin bleached, just to name a few things,” he started.

          “Well there’s one thing that I never did; I never bleached any of my victims, I find the use of it to be too much of a cliché. But let me ask you this, did the ones you find still have their eyes, ears, and tongues?” Ravi wondered.

          “One victim had a tongue cut out, but that was it,” Donghae added.

          “Then I couldn’t have done it. Every person I ever dealt with would receive the same punishment, have their eyes, ears, and tongues removed, never just one, always all three criteria had to go,” Ravi explained.

          “Why would you remove those parts from them?” Changmin questioned.

          “So they could no longer see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil against me,” Ravi replied, raking a hand through his red hair.

          “I don’t believe you,” Seunghyun muttered, glaring over at Ravi. “There’s no way there’s someone out there crazier than you.”

          He attempted to take a step closer to Ravi, before Park Jaebeom cocked his gun again and pointed the weapon at Seunghyun, forcing the officer to pause. “You fucking stay away from us,” he threatened. “I got no problem taking out another cop; I’ll blow your fucking head off without hesitation.”

          “He’s right, Jaebeom is very trigger happy,” Ravi confirmed.

          “Tell us where the victim is Ravi,” Seunghyun demanded, still frozen, and looking down the short barrel of Jaebeom’s handgun.

          “If only I could, but sadly I cannot because I know of no victim,” Ravi maintained. He approached Seunghyun and slightly pushed Park Jaebeom back before muttering “Maybe instead of interrogating me and getting nowhere, you should take your officers and go do your job in finding the real criminal.”

          “Don’t think that you’re going to go free again Ravi; you and everyone here is being taken in,” Seunghyun informed.

          Ravi began laughing loudly, soon followed by the other criminals present, giving the detectives a feeling of uneasiness. “You think so?” Ravi questioned. “How are you gonna do that detective? You are at a disadvantage here.”

          All of a sudden, the doors to the warehouse were thrown open as the Gangnam SWAT team, along with other officers of the 18th Precinct intercepted the area. “Everyone put your weapons down!” they shouted, aiming their guns at Ravi, Jaebeom, and the rest of the accomplices.

          Seeing as now they were outnumbered and outgunned, the criminals reluctantly dropped their guns and raised their hands above their heads as Siwon, Seunghyun, Donghae, and Changmin handcuffed them while the SWAT team recovered the drugs, guns, and money for evidence. As they took the suspects out, Seunghyun looked at his partners and said “I don’t believe Ravi, I think he actually did it, and one way or another, I’ll get him to confess.”

          “Don’t do anything to get a confession thrown out,” Siwon warned.

          “You think I’m gonna do something like that? I’ve wanted to get this son of a bitch arrested and permanently off the streets for years, and this time it’s gonna happen,” Seunghyun promised.

          As they placed the suspects in the backseats of two patrol cars, Donghae received a call on his phone. When he hung up, he announced “That was the Captain, they just discovered Kim Heechul’s body in a forest in southern Gangnam.”

          “What?” Seunghyun demanded.

          “Judging by the distance from there to here, there’s no way that Ravi could’ve dumped the body, considering we’ve been survelliancing him all night,” Changmin slowly figured.

          “The Captain says to let the other officers take Ravi and the others to the precinct to be charged with illegal drug and weapon possession, and that we need to head to the crime scene ASAP,” Donghae added.

          The detectives arrived at the location and discovered the crime scene technicians taking photographs of the area while the coroner covered up the body with a white sheet. “Hey guys, glad you finally got here,” Shindong greeted as the detectives approached him.

          “How does he look compared to the other victims?” Siwon questioned.

          “This is probably the worst one,” Shindong stated. “Our perp is getting more and more sadistic with each new victim.” Kneeling down, Shindong slightly removed the sheet from Heechul’s upper body, revealing the horrifying trauma to the detectives. “His skin was flayed off him while he was still alive; upon further examination, there is definite anal trauma suggesting he was raped, and his mouth has been sown shut.”

          “His what?” Changmin asked.

          “His mouth has been sown shut,” Shindong repeated. “And the bruises and dried blood around his lips, I’m guessing the perp did this to him while he was still alive.”

          “Oh my god,” Donghae muttered, covering his mouth.

          “How can someone do that to another person?” Changmin added.

          Shindong retrieved a small pair of scissors from his kit and slowly cut the threads that held Heechul’s mouth shut. “Whoa, whoa, guys look at this,” Shindong said as he opened Heechul’s mouth and pulled out a small ball of plastic wrap.

          “What the hell is that?” Siwon inquired.

          “I don’t know, but I think there’s something inside,” Shindong figured as he unraveled the ball and discovered a piece of paper inside before handing it to the detectives.

          Unfolding the paper, the four discovered a note etched onto it that read:

_Four stupid detectives, four stupid cops,_

_See how they try to figure out my plot,_

_They all ran after the wrong guy,_

_And consequentially let their victim die,_

_Will they be able to stop me in time?_

_These four stupid cops._

 

          “Son of a bitch is taunting us,” Siwon growled as they read over the note.

          “How the fuck did he know we were following the wrong person?” Seunghyun questioned.

          “He’s gotta be watching us or something,” Donghae figured. “We need to get this back to the Captain and try to find this bastard.”

          Once the four returned to the precinct, they showed Kangin the note. “This was found inside the victim?” Kangin asked.

          “Yeah, stuffed inside his sown shut mouth,” Siwon confirmed.

          “Alright, well it’s getting to the point where now the Commissioner wants us to inform the public of our investigation and tell everyone to stay on guard so that we can hopefully prevent future kidnappings and consequential victims. I want the four of you to prepare a PSA for the media and present it in three hours when they arrive,” Kangin instructed. “Then I want you all to continue searching for this guy.”

          “Yes sir,” the four detectives agreed before exiting Kangin’s office.

          After the officers left, Kangin sat down at his desk and look at a small open-faced ring box. Picking up the ring that was inside, Kangin whispered “Don’t worry my love, we’re gonna find your killer.” He kissed his husband’s wedding ring before placing it back inside the box as he too prepared a statement to give the media.

          While Siwon, Seunghyun, Donghae, and Changmin headed to the break room to rest and write their statement, Yesung continued working at his IT desk before witnessing some officers bring inside a rowdy, violent man who was resisting the arresting officers and fighting to get his handcuffs off. Yesung stood up as he and the other IT’s watched several officers escort the man to an interrogation room. Turning, Yesung watched as another detective brought in another Korean man, only this one was smaller, and timid, and kept his head lowered. “What happened here?” Yesung heard another officer asked as the apparent victim was placed in a chair.

          “That psycho that was just brought in is accused of beating up his lover,” another officer informed.

          Yesung slowly walked over to the brunette Korean and heard him crying quietly. “Are you alright?” Yesung asked quietly.

          The brunette gazed up at Yesung with tear-filled eyes, and almost immediately Yesung was taken aback by how beautiful he was, even though he was indeed bruised up. “Y-yes, I’m alright,” he mumbled before lowering his head again.

          Kangin stepped out of his office and demanded “What was all that commotion about?”

          “Alleged domestic abuse sir,” an officer informed.

          “I see, Yesung, why don’t you take the victim to the restroom and help him get cleaned up?” Kangin suggested.

          “Yes sir,” Yesung agreed before gently taking the brunette’s hand and leading him to the precinct bathroom. He wet a paper towel under the faucet before lightly dabbing it against the bloody area around the brunette’s temple. “So what’s your name?”

          “Kim Ryeowook,” the brunette stated.

          “I’m Kim Yesung,” the IT Korean responded. “What happened to you?”

          Ryeowook lowered his head and began to weep again. “Lunch was two minutes late,” he whispered in an almost ashamed tone.

          “What, you’re telling me he did this to you because his food wasn’t ready in time?” Yesung inquired.

          “The rule is to have lunch ready by twelve thirty every day, no exceptions. But I broke a rule, so I was punished,” Ryeowook replied.

          Yesung couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Ryeowook, does your boyfriend hurt you like this a lot?” he slowly asked. The brunette nodded slowly as Yesung wiped away his falling tears with another paper towel. “Then why do you stay?”

          Ryeowook gazed at Yesung with glistening eyes and mumbled “He says he loves me, and that no one else ever will; he says no one ever wants used property.” 

          Yesung was internally seething at the idea of someone harming this sweet brunette before the door to the bathroom opened, and in walked a man handcuffed, being escorted by two officers; judging by Ryeowook’s reaction, Yesung figured the handcuffed man was his boyfriend. “He needs to use the restroom, you might wanna take the victim out,” an officer suggested.

          Yesung nodded and shielded Ryeowook from his boyfriend’s gaze as he walked past them smirking. The raven haired Korean’s eyes burned as he glared at Ryeowook’s abuser before escorting him out to the main area. “Do you have a phone?” Yesung wondered as he sat Ryeowook back down at one of the desks.

          “Yes, but it’s closely monitored,” Ryeowook informed.

          “Take this,” Yesung offered as he handed Ryeowook a card with his name and phone number on it. “If you ever need help, you always call me and I’ll come get you.”

          “How will you be able to find me?” Ryeowook asked.

          “Don’t worry, I can locate anyone, that’s my job,” Yesung reminded. “Just hide that card where you know he can’t find it.”

          Ryeowook nodded before quickly pocketing the card before hearing his boyfriend call his name, causing him to jump. “Let’s go,” he commanded, motioning for Ryeowook to follow him.

          “Whoa, whoa you think you can just do that to him and we’re gonna allow him to go home with you?” Yesung questioned as he stepped in front of the frightened brunette.

          The boyfriend smirked before approaching Yesung. “My bitch never rats me out, even though our neighbors do. He knows his place, and what will happen if he steps out of line with me,” he cockily stated.

          “That’s because he’s terrified of you, you dumbass motherfucker,” Yesung growled, keeping his eyes on the boyfriend, while still shielding Ryeowook.

          “What the fuck did you say to me?” the boyfriend demanded as he clenched his fists.

          “You heard what I said,” Yesung responded.

          “Yesung,” Kangin firmly stated as he came into the main room. “You have to allow them to leave together, the victim is choosing to not press charges, and there’s nothing we can do about it until then.”

          “Captain, it’s not right,” Yesung argued.

          “Yesung, stand down,” Kangin ordered before turning to the boyfriend. “And you, we better not see you in here again for the same reason.”

          “See, your Captain knows who’s right here,” the boyfriend mocked at Yesung.

          “Shut the fuck up and leave,” Kangin spat before returning to his office.

          “Give me my property you tech bitch,” the boyfriend lowly demanded.

          “If you ever hurt him again, I will fucking murder you,” Yesung growled in a quiet voice so only he and the boyfriend could hear.

          “Oh yeah, I’m so scared of a computer nerd,” the boyfriend laughed before roughly grabbing Ryeowook’s arm. “We’re leaving.” Yesung could only helplessly watch Ryeowook was dragged out of the precinct.

          Later that evening, Sungmin was eating dinner in the living room while watching TV, when he saw the PSA that Donghae and the other detectives gave. “We, the detectives of the 18th Precinct of Gangnam, urge all citizens to be cautious and not travel alone at night, especially young men that are blonde and college aged. We are working night and day to find this psychopath, and rest assured that he will be brought to justice. We thank all of the people of Gangnam for being supportive and understanding in this time, and we hope you all stay safe,” Donghae announced before Sungmin turned off the TV.

          Almost immediately, the apartment door opened up and in walked his cousin. “Hey, I just saw your public service announcement about those victims and the serial killer that’s loose,” he informed. “It’s really creepy dude.”

          “I know, that’s why I want you to be extra careful; I know nothing’s probably gonna happen to you, but I just have to tell you,” Donghae replied.

          “Don’t worry Donghae, I stick to a pretty routine schedule so it’s highly unlikely something will happen,” Sungmin figured.

          Meanwhile, in eastern Gangnam, Kyuhyun and Yesung sat in a small café facing the evening street in front of the building. “What’s the whereabouts?” Kyuhyun questioned before sipping his drink.

          “Just got a text saying that he is about five minutes away, and I’ve already taken the liberty of disabling the street cameras on all ends just in case,” Yesung informed.

          “I hope this is the one, I get angrier every time I take home a fake,” Kyuhyun replied.

          “Maybe this will be the one,” Yesung encouraged. Suddenly, Yesung’s phone vibrated as a text alert popped up. “Oh, looks like he’s outside already. Okay, I’ll get our car and just follow you back to the warehouse.”

          “Sounds good,” Kyuhyun agreed before they both stood up and walked outside.

          Kyuhyun climbed into the Uber car that had pulled up and was greeted by a blonde Korean sitting in the driver’s seat. “Hi, are you Kyuhyun?” he inquired.

          “Yep that’s me,” Kyuhyun confirmed with a grin across his face.

          “Well I’m Lee Hyukjae, and thank you for choosing my Uber to take you home, so where can I take you to?” the blonde asked.

          “I live over near the park just a couple of miles that way,” Kyuhyun pointed.

          “Alright, just sit back and relax and I’ll have you home soon,” Hyukjae promised before driving off.

          Yesung cautiously followed the car, knowing exactly what Kyuhyun had planned. As they drove, Kyuhyun pulled a washcloth out of his pocket and a small vial of clear liquid out of the other. He poured the liquid onto the washcloth before requesting “Can we please stop up here for a moment, I’m starting to feel nauseous.”

          “Sure,” Hyukjae agreed as he pulled off next to the curb and stopped his car. “Is there anything I can –”

          Hyukjae couldn’t finish his sentence because a chloroform filled washcloth was shoved against his face. The blonde struggled for a few moments before ultimately giving in and letting his body fall limp as he passed out. Kyuhyun smiled as he pulled away the washcloth and gazed at his latest catch. He couldn’t help but run his hand down Hyukjae’s face and mutter “Let me take you home Minnie.” Kyuhyun then moved Hyukjae from the driver’s seat to lay down across the backseats before he and Yesung continued their way back to their warehouse with their newest prize.


	5. Chapter 5

          Several days later, inside the precinct, the four detectives sat in front of their drawing board, looking over the clues they’d gathered when Kangin emerged from his office. “Detectives, some important information has just come to light,” he informed. “I just received a call from the hospital; it seems that early this morning that a victim has survived our killer’s torture and is currently being treated.”

          “A survivor?” Donghae asked, almost shocked.

          “I want Donghae and Changmin to go over to the hospital and interview him to see what he remembers and if anything can be used to find this bastard,” Kangin instructed. “Siwon, you and Seunghyun stay here and see if you can do some more digging into our suspect.”

          “Yes sir,” the four responded.

          Donghae and Changmin made their way over to the Gangnam Emergency Hospital and up to a desk. “Hello, may I help you?” the woman behind the desk offered.

          “Yes I’m Detective Lee and this is Detective Shim, our precinct received a call about a torture victim that was admitted this morning,” Donghae explained as he and Changmin showed the woman their police badges.

          “Ah yes, I remember, very sad what happened to him,” the woman said as she looked through her computer for the room number.

          “You spoke to him?” Changmin wondered.

          “Oh, no I didn’t, but I did see him as he was being taken to surgery; he looked like he was in a lot of pain and I was surprised that he was still alive,” the woman informed. “Here it is, yes patient Lee Hyukjae was admitted at 6:36 a.m. this morning. He’s in room 397 if you’d like to visit him. I’ll call the floor and let them know you’re coming up.”

          “Alright thank you,” Donghae replied before he and Changmin went over to the elevator.

          After riding up to the appropriate floor, Donghae and Changmin showed their badges again to the desk nurses before they escorted the detectives to the appropriate room. Upon opening the door, both Korean men gasped at the sight of their victim. “Hyukjae was in shock when he arrived, and passed out for a few hours; while he was out we ran some tests on him to find that he has severe anal tearing from being forcibly sodomized repeatedly, burn marks of first and second degrees on his chest, neck, legs, and stomach, along with numerous gashes and cuts and a broken arm. He regained consciousness about an hour ago,” a nurse informed as she walked over to check the machines.

          “Why are there bandages around his eyes?” Changmin wondered.

          “We found residue of bleach in his eyes, and although he was lucky enough to not be completely blinded by it, he will require special glasses to assist with his vision from now on, as well as a new development to light sensitivity. He couldn’t even get through the examination without screaming because the light still hurts him, so we keep the bandages on him to help him adjust to different levels of brightness,” the nurse explained.

          “Is he able to talk?” Donghae finally gasped out.

          “He is responsive,” the nurse confirmed. “Just try not to ask him too much at once.”

          When the nurse left, Changmin and Donghae slowly walked over to their victim and stood next to him before Donghae whispered “Lee Hyukjae?”

          “Y-yes?” Hyukjae muttered in response.

          “I’m Detective Lee Donghae, and this is Detective Changmin; we’re with the Gangnam district police and we’d like to ask you a few questions, if you’re up for it,” Donghae softly requested as he sat down in a chair next to the victim.

          “Okay,” Hyukjae agreed, trying to hold back sobs in his throat.

          “Alright, let’s start with a few days ago, can you tell me what you remember happening?” Donghae asked.

          Hyukjae took a shuddering breath before slowly stating “I, I was picking up my last customer for the night.”

          “What do you do?” Donghae wondered.

          “I’m an Uber driver, I usually end my shifts at eight on weeknights and eleven on weekends,” Hyukjae explained.

          Donghae turned to Changmin and muttered “Call the precinct and get Yesung to look up Hyukjae’s Uber records of the night we went missing and see if we can use the GPS coordinates to determine where he was taken.”

          “Got it,” Changmin agreed before stepping out into the hallway.

          Donghae returned to sit next to Hyukjae and encouraged “Go on, what happened when you picked up your customer?”

          Hyukjae took another breath and continued “He told me that he lived just past the park, so I started driving him there. When we reached the park, he said he felt nauseous and asked if I could pull over, so I did, thinking he needed to throw up. Next thing I know, he shoves a rag in my face and I pass out. I can’t believe I was so stupid and let myself get taken.”

          “Hyukjae, you have no reason to blame yourself, you were drugged, it wasn’t your fault you were kidnapped,” Donghae promised.

          The brunette detective saw tears begin to leak out from the bandages as Hyukjae muttered “I had just heard the PSA about the serial killer on the loose and like an idiot I stayed out by myself at night.”

          Donghae placed a hand gently on Hyukjae’s unbroken arm to settle him, and felt him tense up at his touch. “You couldn’t have predicted that this was going to happen to you, don’t blame yourself,” Donghae repeated. “What happened next?”

          “When I woke up, I was in a warehouse tied to a chair,” Hyukjae continued.

          “Did you see your captor?” Donghae asked. He felt the victim shake as he gulped a breath. “It’s alright, he can’t hurt you anymore.”

          Hyukjae began crying as he said “There were two of them.”

          “Two?” Donghae echoed.

          The blonde nodded before describing “One was quiet, had black hair and was on his laptop or tablet most of the time, except for the moments where he would burn me.”

          “What about the other one?” Donghae whispered. Hyukjae began panting and crying harder before Donghae added “Hyukjae listen to me, I will keep you safe from whoever hurt you, but you have to describe him so we can find him.”

          Donghae’s words seemed to comfort Hyukjae as he calmed down some as he continued “The other one, he, he was the one who did everything. He was tall, had dark brunette hair, very dark and cold eyes, and his smile, it scared me.”

          “Did you notice any markings or piercings on either of them?” Changmin asked, as he had reentered the room moments ago.

          “Yes,” Hyukjae confirmed. “I remember the brunette one had a tattoo of a black spider on his wrist.”

          “Okay that’s good Hyukjae, you’re doing great,” Donghae encouraged. Turning to Changmin, Donghae said “Call the others and tell them to add the characteristics to our perps.” Changmin nodded before stepping out again as Donghae turned back to Hyukjae. “What happened after you woke up and discovered where you were?”

          Hyukjae swallowed roughly before muttering “That’s when the Hell began.”

          Donghae gently touched Hyukjae’s injured wrist before saying “Just take your time.”

          _*Flashback two days ago*_

          Lee Hyukjae awoke with a groan as he raised his head and discovered he was tied up to an office chair. He was even more shocked to see a dark brunette Korean standing right in front of him. Hyukjae felt his heart pound loudly as his captor reached out and touched the side of his head gently. The blonde winced as this person’s touch was painful; Hyukjae’s eyes widened as his captor’s hand pulled back to reveal blood staining his fingertips. “You’re lucky your skull wasn’t cracked open,” Kyuhyun muttered before tilting his head slightly as he gazed at Hyukjae.

          “What do you want with me? Please let me go,” Hyukjae begged as he struggled relentlessly against the restraints.

          Kyuhyun laughed quietly before leaning forward to place both hands on Hyukjae’s trembling face and whispering “Minnie, don’t be scared.”

          “Who, who’s Minnie?” Hyukjae nervously asked.

          “Well you are of course,” Kyuhyun responded as he grinned and stroked his fingers over Hyukjae’s face, coating his skin in a light layer of blood.

          “What are you talking about? My name’s not Minnie,” Hyukjae denied as he pulled his face away from Kyuhyun’s touch.

          Kyuhyun laughed quietly before whispering “Minnie you don’t have to be afraid of anyone, anymore; it’s me, don’t you remember?”

          “I don’t know who you are, you psycho,” Hyukjae retorted.

          Tilting his head to the side again, Kyuhyun’s eyes grew dark as he muttered “You were never this defensive Minnie, but maybe that’s because we’ve been apart and need to get reacquainted.”

          Slowly, a smile grew across Kyuhyun’s lips as he untied Hyukjae before scooping him up and carrying him over to a bed, where he was thrown onto the mattress before Kyuhyun climbed on top of Hyukjae, trapping him there as he tied the blonde’s wrists to the bedframe. “Please, let me go,” Hyukjae pleaded as his clothes were ripped off of him.

          “Why would I let you go when we were just reunited?” Kyuhyun inquired before biting roughly at Hyukjae’s necking, listening to the blonde cry underneath him.

          Hyukjae struggled to see if he could get free, but to no avail. “Get off me you freak! Get the fuck away from me! I’m not your Minnie!” Hyukjae screamed through sobs.

          Kyuhyun raised his head and looked at Hyukjae before whispering “Let’s let your body be the judge of that.”

          _*End of flashback*_

          “He, he raped me over and over for hours,” Hyukjae wept as he continued recounting the story for Donghae, while tears escaped from underneath his bandaged eyes. “He kept talking to me the whole time, and he never called me by my name.”

          “What did he call you?” Donghae questioned.

          “He kept calling me Minnie, but I don’t know who that is; I always assumed it was the nickname of an ex or something,” Hyukjae explained. “Every time I told him I wasn’t Minnie, he got angrier and angrier with me.”

          “And you have never seen your captor before?” Donghae wondered.

          “No, I had never met him before the incident,” Hyukjae confirmed.

          “Okay,” Donghae nodded.

          After relaying to Changmin what Hyukjae had said, Changmin called back the precinct to let them know. “Alright, thanks man,” Seunghyun said as he hung up his phone before turning to Siwon. “Changmin said that our victim claims the perp never called him by his real name, but instead referred to him as Minnie.”

          “That’s a common nickname for people who have ‘Min’ in their name, but so far, only one of our victims has had that name,” Siwon reminded as he circled Min-ki’s photo on the whiteboard. “Our other victims didn’t have ‘Min’ in their names.”

          “What have we got so far?” Kangin questioned as he approached the two detectives. “Any word from the hospital on our victim?”

          “Yeah, Changmin keeps calling and updating and he says that our victim so far confirms being kidnapped and raped by our perp,” Siwon explained. “And judging by the description of the extent of his injuries, it’s safe to assume that it’s our perp.”

          “He also said that the perp never called him by his real name, but instead by this nickname of Minnie. I’m wondering if this happened for all our other victims,” Seunghyun added.

          “Did you say he called them Minnie?” Kangin repeated.

          “Yes sir, that’s what our victim remembers, why?” Siwon asked.

          “For some reason, I remember hearing that name a lot, but I can’t remember where,” Kangin responded. “What else?”

          “Changmin also said that the victim claims that there were two captors,” Seunghyun added. “But like with most duo criminals, one was more dominant than the other.”

          “Alright, what have we got on the victim himself?” Kangin wondered as he crossed his arms and gazed at the whiteboard.

          “Name is Lee Hyukjae, age twenty four, works full time as an Uber driver for citizens around the Gangnam district, no priors, and has never seen the assailant before the attack,” Siwon informed. “Injuries coincide with the same pattern of abuse as our other victims.”

          “Do we have a lead on where he was attacked?” Kangin asked.

          “Yesung pulled up Hyukjae’s Uber and phone records, last known recording being in front of a small café on the other side of the city,” Seunghyun added.

          “Alright, you two head over to this café and talk to anyone who may have worked the night Hyukjae was kidnapped and see if they remember anything,” Kangin ordered. “Hopefully someone saw something happen.” Siwon and Seunghyun nodded before heading out to the café.

          Back at the hospital, Donghae and Changmin continued interviewing Hyukjae about what had happened. “Can you tell us what happened next?” Donghae whispered as he kept his hand on top of Hyukjae’s wrist. Hyukjae swallowed roughly before he persisted in his recollection.

          _*Flashback one day ago*_

Kyuhyun awoke from his sleep and sat up, stretching nonchalantly before standing and walking over to another bed that lie on the opposite end of the warehouse he called home. He smiled as he gazed at the naked blonde that was still tied to the bed, shivering and crying in fear. Reaching his hand out, Kyuhyun stroked his hand over Hyukjae’s trembling skin before leaning down to press a kiss to his shoulder. “Did my Minnie sleep well?” Kyuhyun wondered, running his fingers through Hyukjae’s hair.

          “I, I told you I’m not Minnie,” Hyukjae cried.

          Kyuhyun suddenly gripped Hyukjae’s blonde hair in his fist before leaning forward to growl quietly, “Why do you insist on lying to me?”

          “I’m not lying to you,” Hyukjae muttered. “Please, I’m sorry, please don’t hurt me, please, I’m sorry.”

          Kyuhyun shushed the blonde’s crying and listened to Hyukjae gulp down his sobs before rubbing his thumb across Hyukjae’s lower lip as he whispered “You’re like everyone else aren’t you? You all dress up and dye your hair and imitate the only person I’ve ever been in love with, and you expect me not to hurt you?” He slipped his hand around Hyukjae’s neck and began to squeeze, causing the blonde to gasp and cough. “Does this hurt?” he demanded. When Hyukjae only gasped in response, Kyuhyun released his grip on the blonde’s throat, listening to Hyukjae cough and gag as he caught his breath. Standing up, Kyuhyun looked down at his captive and smirked. “You haven’t yet begun to know the pain I have in store for you.”

          Hyukjae couldn’t even fight back as Kyuhyun untied his wrists before grabbing a fistful of his blonde hair as he dragged his captive across the warehouse, listening to him scream. “What, what do you want from me? Please, just let me go, I’ll give you anything, please,” Hyukjae pleaded as Kyuhyun tied his wrists back together and hoisted him into the air, letting him dangle a few inches above the ground.

          “What do I want?” Kyuhyun demanded. He snapped on a pair of latex gloves before looking down at his table of instruments, before selecting a small knife. Turning to Hyukjae, a grin grew across his lips before he continued “I wanna watch you bleed.”

          _*End flashback*_

          “That’s when he began –” Hyukjae said before pausing to take another breath. “Please, I can’t do anymore right now.”

          “Alright, it’s okay,” Donghae promised, gently squeezing Hyukjae’s hand. “We’ll let you rest and come back later, okay?” The blonde nodded before Donghae added “You did very well Hyukjae, and don’t worry, we will find who did this to you. If you need anything, have the nurses call us and we’ll be here.”

          Donghae felt Hyukjae grab his hand and whisper “Thank you for helping me.”

          Smiling, Donghae replied “We’re here for you if you ever need us.”

          After leaving Hyukjae’s hospital room, Donghae and Changmin returned to the precinct and noticed the others were gone. “Captain, where are Siwon and Seunghyun?” Changmin wondered.

          “They’re checking up on the café location where our victim was allegedly abducted from,” Kangin informed.

          “Well according to Hyukjae, he wasn’t at the café when he was abducted,” Donghae said as he walked over to their whiteboard and pointed to the café’s location. He then took a marker and starred the park that was a few blocks away. “Hyukjae says he picked up his abductor under the ruse that he needed a ride home, and was taken from somewhere around here.”

          “Well maybe the street cameras caught something as they were leaving the café,” Kangin figured.

          “They weren’t,” Siwon stated as he and Seunghyun joined the group. “Cameras at the café were disarmed, same as the street cameras around the area.”

          “Employees say nothing out of the ordinary happened the night in question, and don’t report seeing anything or anyone suspicious,” Seunghyun added. “How’s the victim?”

          “He’s alive, that’s about all I can say; his injuries are extensive, and if that’s not enough, Hyukjae is definitely gonna have PTSD,” Donghae muttered. “But the memories were too much for him to talk about all at once, so we’re letting him rest before continuing.” Turning to Kangin, Donghae whispered “Captain, can I speak to you for a minute?”

          “Sure, let’s go to my office,” Kangin suggested. After the two were in Kangin’s office, Kangin asked “What’s up?”

          “Hyukjae is scared out of his mind and I want to have some officers placed outside his hospital room so he feels safer,” Donghae requested.

          “Alright I can have that arranged,” Kangin agreed.

          “I would like to be one of the officers,” Donghae wished.

          “No, I need you here with the others,” Kangin denied.

          “Captain he trusts me,” Donghae reminded.

          “And I’m glad that he is able to put his trust in you despite what happened to him, but you are needed here. Now, if he wants to relay some more details to us later, then you can go back and talk to him, but until then, you need to help your partners,” Kangin replied. “Don’t worry Donghae, he’ll be protected.”

          A couple of hours later, at the IT desks, Yesung was working at his computer when his phone rang. “Hello?” he answered. All Yesung could hear was shaky breathing, followed by a few sobs. “Hello?” he repeated.

          “Y-yesung?” Ryeowook whispered.

          “Ryeowook, are you okay? What’s wrong?” Yesung inquired.

          “I, I can’t live like this anymore,” Ryeowook cried. “M-my boyfriend –”

          Suddenly, Ryeowook stopped talking, and Yesung heard a voice in the background shout “Ryeowook, who the fuck are you talking to?”

          “No, please, please,” Ryeowook begged before Yesung heard a smack and Ryeowook yelp as the phone was dropped on the ground.

          Yesung gripped the phone as he stood up and kept repeating “Ryeowook, Ryeowook!” But all he could hear was the sound of the brunette Korean crying and pleading as he was continuously hit.

          Yesung froze as he heard the boyfriend pick up the phone. “You stupid bitch, you called that motherfucker who disrespected me?!” the boyfriend screamed before Yesung heard Ryeowook be hit again as he kept apologizing.

          Feeling his heart pound faster, Yesung immediately walked over to the bathroom and locked the door behind him. “Ryeowook, please pick up!” Yesung begged.

          The raven haired Korean heard heavy breathing in the phone before the boyfriend muttered “He can’t come to the phone right now, his phone privileges are gone.”

          Yesung curled his hand into a fist until his knuckles turned white as he lowly said “Let me speak to Ryeowook.”

          The boyfriend began to laugh before responding “I would love to let you, but he and I are about to have a long talk about what happens when he talks to officers behind my back.” Yesung then heard the boyfriend walk over and grab Ryeowook as he yelped again. “Say goodbye to your officer friend bitch, because there is nothing he can do.”

          Gritting his teeth, Yesung growled “If you touch him again, I will fucking murder you.”

          Suddenly, Yesung heard Ryeowook be slapped again as the timid brunette continued sobbing. “Guess I touched him, and I’m still alive, looks like you can’t do a goddamn thing, what do you say to that?” the boyfriend taunted.

          Yesung began shaking in anger as he whispered “I’m gonna enjoy watching you die.” He then hung up his phone and stood there, letting everything that had just happened sink in. Looking up, Yesung slammed his clenched fist into one of the mirrors, shattering it immediately. He ignored the pain, blood, and shards on his knuckles as he gripped the sink and took several angry breaths before he exited the bathroom, heading over to Kangin’s office.

          Knocking quietly, Kangin called “Come in.” 

          Yesung opened the door and requested “Captain, can I take the rest of the day off?”

          Looking up, Kangin saw Yesung’s injured fist. “What happened?” he inquired.

          “Just an accident,” Yesung lied.

          Kangin was silent, and his expression showed hesitation at believing Yesung’s statement, but he reluctantly replied “Fine, but go straight to the doctor and have it looked at.”

          “Yes sir,” Yesung responded before leaving Kangin’s office, only stopping to grab his jacket off the back of his chair. Walking outside of the precinct, Yesung called Kyuhyun. “Hey man, come get me from work, I’ve got to talk to you about something important,” Yesung informed.

          “Alright, this better be good,” Kyuhyun said. “I’ll be there in twenty.”

          “Cool,” Yesung muttered before hanging up. Looking down at his hand, Yesung winced as he began pulling out shards of the mirror from his knuckles.

          Meanwhile, back inside, the four detectives continued looking over their new evidence when one of the phone’s on the desks rang. “Detective Choi Siwon, 18th Precinct, how can I help you?” Siwon answered.

          “Yes this is the Gangnam Emergency Hospital, and I’m calling on behalf of patient Lee Hyukjae. He has rested and would like to continue answering anymore questions you have,” a nurse explained.

          “Alright thank you, we will be there soon,” Siwon promised.

          “Oh, he also requested to talk to Detective Lee Donghae, he says he feels more comfortable around him,” the nurse added.

          “Okay, he will be there,” Siwon replied before hanging up. “Donghae that was the hospital, Lee Hyukjae is awake and would like to continue answering your questions.”

          “Great, I’ll head over there now,” Donghae said as he stood up.

          “Donghae?” Hyukjae muttered when he heard his hospital room door open up.

          “Yeah, it’s me,” Donghae confirmed. Hyukjae held out his hand, before gripping Donghae’s arm. “Are you feeling any better now?”

          “A little,” Hyukjae responded.

          Donghae sat down in a chair next to Hyukjae and pulled out his phone, before switching on his voice recorder. “You sure you wanna keep going?” Donghae asked.

          “Yes, I have to keep going; maybe that’ll help me,” Hyukjae replied.

          “It will help you feel better once you get everything out,” Donghae agreed. “Now we left off on your captor was about to torture you the morning after you were taken.”

          “Right, that’s when he started cutting me,” Hyukjae recalled.

          _*Flashback to one day ago*_

Lee Hyukjae raised his head after feeling a smack be delivered to his face, only to be greeted by excruciating pain and Kyuhyun looking at him with a bloodied knife in his hand. “You’re starting to pass out again,” Kyuhyun muttered. “This is the third time already, and it’s getting annoying.” Hyukjae began to cry again before Kyuhyun shushed him and stroked the back of his hand down Hyukjae’s face. “Stop it, I haven’t given you anything to cry over.” Kyuhyun wiped away a tear off Hyukjae’s cheek before licking the water droplet off his thumb. Seeing Hyukjae’s nervous reaction, Kyuhyun smirked before slicing his knife across his captive’s chest.

          “When’s it gonna be my turn?” Yesung wondered as he walked over to examine Kyuhyun’s work.

          “In a minute, this one’s being stubborn, keeps crying,” Kyuhyun said.

          “I brought us home something to try from work,” Yesung informed as he presented an electric baton that officers used on uncooperative suspects they arrested. “Maybe see how he responds to electric burns versus regular ones.”

          “Experimenting are we?” Kyuhyun inquired as he lightly scrapped his knife across Hyukjae’s hips.

          “Just curiosity,” Yesung responded as he pushed a button on the baton and watched a small electric current form between the wires at the end before releasing the button, cutting of the current.

          Kyuhyun set his knife into a cup of bleach with some of the other instruments he’d used on Hyukjae before removing his latex gloves and saying “He’s all yours.”

          Yesung approached Hyukjae and placed the end of the electric baton underneath the blonde’s chin, raising his head. “We’re gonna play a game called ‘One or Two’,” Yesung informed. “The rules are very simple.” Yesung then proceeded to pull his lighter from his pocket. “You will feel a shock and a burn, and you tell me what hurts more, one or two. Which would you like first?” When Hyukjae remained silent, Yesung turned on the baton and jabbed the electric current into Hyukjae’s side, causing the blonde to tense up and scream. After five seconds, Yesung removed the baton, giving Hyukjae a chance to catch his breath as he panted. The raven haired Korean then flicked on his lighter and held the flame next to Hyukjae’s side, just underneath his electrical burn, causing the blonde to yell once more, yanking his wrists against their restraints.

          After a few minutes, Kyuhyun reentered and saw the multiple burns on Hyukjae’s body and said “I admit I’m impressed.”

          “Thanks,” Yesung responded. “I did his sides, back, chest, and a couple on his thighs.”

          “Did he pass out again?” Kyuhyun asked, noticing Hyukjae’s head was hanging low.

          “Yeah I think so,” Yesung confirmed.

          “No matter, he’ll be dead soon anyways, tomorrow morning after we finish him, we’ll dump his body before your shift starts,” Kyuhyun stated as he untied Hyukjae’s wrists and carried his unconscious body back over to the mattress. “I’m gonna take this opportunity to write the note for the detectives, keep an eye on him.”

          “Okay,” Yesung agreed as he sat down at a desk near the mattress and began to browse through his tablet.

          About an hour later, Hyukjae slowly opened his eyes and sat up on the mattress. Looking over, he saw Yesung was passed out at the desk, and Kyuhyun was nowhere to be found. There was also now a strong pain on his back, but Hyukjae couldn’t figure out what it was. Slowly, Hyukjae stood up and found his disheveled clothing near the bed and quickly redressed in his shirt and jeans, but couldn’t locate his shoes anywhere. Hyukjae quietly began to back away from Yesung carefully so as not to wake him, before stopping suddenly, letting out a gasp as he backed into something. Before he could do anything else, a hand covered Hyukjae’s mouth and a hot breath shushed him in his ear. “Where do you think you’re going?” Kyuhyun whispered. Instead of waiting for Hyukjae to respond, he slapped a piece of duct tape over his mouth before throwing him down on the ground, pinning Hyukjae under his knees as the blonde thrashed about. “I told you, you would never see home again because of your deception, and now that you’ve tried to pull this little stunt, you will never see again,” Kyuhyun stated before reaching over to the table and grabbing a large jug of bleach. The dark brunette Korean proceeded to then unscrew the lid and pour the liquid into Hyukjae’s eyes, listening to his muffled screams against the duct tape.

          Hyukjae immediately covered his burning eyes, desperately needed to wash them out. He then began to feel around for something, anything to get Kyuhyun off him. The blonde found luck when he felt something within arm’s reach and took hold before smacking Kyuhyun across the face with the electric baton. Kyuhyun groaned as he fell off of Hyukjae, giving the blonde a chance to scramble to his feet and blindly try to find an exit. He could hear Kyuhyun screaming at Yesung to wake up, but Hyukjae knew he had to escape. Somehow, the blonde found a door and went through it, feeling the cool night air hit him. The ground was damp underneath his bare feet, indicating recent rainfall, and Hyukjae knew there must be water nearby. Through squinting eyes, he found a bucket on the side of the warehouse with rainwater in it, and picked it up, pouring it down his face and body in an attempt to wash some of the bleach out; it helped a little, although his eyes still burned and his vision was becoming blurry. Wasting no time, Hyukjae began to run away from the warehouse into the darkness.

          “Why the fuck were you sleeping?” Kyuhyun demanded as he smacked Yesung hard on the back of the head.

          “Sorry man, I didn’t mean to,” Yesung apologized.

          “We have to catch him, grab the gun,” Kyuhyun ordered before Yesung grabbed their handgun and made sure it was loaded before following Kyuhyun out of the warehouse.

          The two looked around for Hyukjae and listened carefully before hearing the sound of bare feet running through leaves. “He’s going to the woods,” Yesung figured before the two headed after the escaped blonde.

          Hyukjae stopped for a moment to rest against a tree, listening to the sound of crickets and owls in the night. The blonde knew his captors would be coming soon so he mustered the strength he could to drag his tired, achy body along. Suddenly, Hyukjae heard the sound of running behind him and quickly moved to hide behind a large tree before the sound stopped. “He’s gotta be somewhere,” Hyukjae heard Yesung say.

          “He’s near us alright, I can sense his fear,” Kyuhyun lowly said before he took Yesung’s gun. “You go check over there, I’ll check this area.” Hyukjae heard Yesung run to another area of the forest before he heard Kyuhyun laugh. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Kyuhyun called out into the night, sending chills down Hyukjae’s spine. “Why’d you leave? We weren’t done playing yet.” Kyuhyun cocked his gun before aiming at each of the trees and tauntingly counting “Eeny, meeny, miney, mo, catch my prisoner by his toe. If he hollers, I’ll laugh and never let him go.” Hyukjae covered his mouth to conceal his shaky breathing and closed his eyes as he trembled in fear, listening to Kyuhyun’s footsteps grow closer.

          The footsteps stopped, Hyukjae held his breath, and the gun went off, only feet away from where Hyukjae was, indicating that Kyuhyun was near him. After hearing the gunshot, Hyukjae exhaled and bolted away from the scene, continuing to push past the trees, trying to escape. Without warning, Hyukjae lost his footing and fell down an incline, rolling over many times, hearing a snap in the process. When he reached the bottom of the hill, Hyukjae lay there motionless on his stomach in the darkness. Yesung and Kyuhyun eventually saw Hyukjae lying at the bottom of the hill; Yesung asked “Should we shoot him?”

          “Why waste a bullet now? He won’t survive after that tumble combined with his other injuries, we’ll come back for the body at dawn, if an animal hasn’t consumed him by then,” Kyuhyun responded. “C’mon, let’s head back.” Yesung nodded before following his friend back to the warehouse.

          When the sun began to break over the horizon and give a little light, Hyukjae groaned as he opened his eyes. He couldn’t move his left arm and knew for sure that he had broken it during his fall down the hill. Looking up, Hyukjae saw a barbwire fence in front of him and reached a hand out to grab the wire, praying it was electric and would put an end to his suffering. After nothing happened when he grabbed it, Hyukjae felt the ground underneath the fence, and figured if he could dig a small trench and pass under the fence, he could make it out to a road somewhere. Since the earth was soft from the recent rainfall, Hyukjae desperately scraped and dug a hole under the fence before crawling under the barbed wire. Before he could make it all the way out, his shirt snagged on one of the barbs. Not wanting to give up now, Hyukjae let the barb rip his shirt off his body, allowing him to escape. The half-naked Korean groaned as he rose to his feet and held his broken arm close to his chest as he quickly ran towards the nearest road.

          _*End Flashback*_

          “Next thing I knew, I was picked up by some travelers who took pity on me, and they escorted me to the hospital. I passed out just as I came in,” Hyukjae finished.

          “Wow, that is absolutely incredible,” Donghae admitted. “You said that you had woken up and felt a pain in your back, did you ever find out what caused it?”

          “Yes,” Hyukjae muttered. “The doctors told me what it was, and they said once you came back, they would remove it for you.”

          “What do you mean?” Donghae questioned.

          Hyukjae slowly sat up, leaned forward, and whispered “It’s under this nightgown.”

          Donghae stood and carefully raised the back of Hyukjae’s nightgown and his jaw almost hit the floor. On Hyukjae’s back was a note to the detectives, stapled onto the blonde’s body. “Oh my God,” Donghae said, trying to ignore the turning knots in his stomach as he lightly rubbed his fingertips over the staples on Hyukjae’s skin. “I’m so sorry Hyukjae.”

          “It doesn’t hurt as much now, but I’m ready for them to be taken out,” Hyukjae replied.

          “I’ll go get your doctor,” Donghae responded before heading out to find someone to help.

          A couple of hours later, Donghae returned to the precinct to show his fellow detectives the note he’d recovered. “They stuck a note on him?” Seunghyun asked.

          “Stapled it to him,” Donghae corrected. “Hyukjae has been through Hell, and I fear it’s not over for him.”

          “Well of course it’s not Donghae, he’ll be traumatized with this for the rest of his life,” Siwon reminded.

          “Let’s take a look at this note,” Changmin suggested.

          The detectives held up the evidence bag the note had been placed in and read aloud:

_Detectives, detectives, are you not effective?_

_You let yet another victim die._

_Our game will go on, for however long,_

_Until Minnie is MINE._

          “Anybody think this guy has a fucked up relationship with nursery rhymes?” Changmin wondered.

          “Well we can at least tell that he intended on Lee Hyukjae dying, but was thwarted,” Seunghyun noticed as he pointed to the second line.

          “We need to do some research and find out who this Minnie person is pronto, or else more people will die,” Siwon stated.

          Meanwhile, Yesung and Kyuhyun sat down at a table in a café, waiting for their coffee to be made. “So what do you wanna tell me? Did you find out where our captive went?” Kyuhyun muttered.

          “Yeah, he’s at the nearby hospital, but there are guards on him twenty four seven, so it’ll be hard to get to him, but that’s not the reason why I wanted to talk,” Yesung said.

          “Alright, what’s up?” Kyuhyun curiously asked.

          “I found someone I want,” Yesung informed. “He’s a victim of domestic abuse and all I want to do is rip out his boyfriend’s throat and take him away from that.”

          “So you want me to let bring home a stray?” Kyuhyun inquired.

          “This one’s special Kyuhyun,” Yesung replied.

          “Look dude, I –” Kyuhyun started before someone approached them and spoke up.

          “Hi, I have two coffees here for you gentlemen,” the Korean said cheerfully as he placed the cups in front of them. Kyuhyun gazed up at this Korean and his eyes widened and mouth dropped slightly. “Can I get you anything else?”

          “What’s your name?” Kyuhyun asked.

          “Lee Sungmin,” the blonde responded with a grin.

          “That’s a cute name,” Kyuhyun complimented.

          “Thank you,” Sungmin said as a light blush crept over his cheeks.

          “I think we’re good here for now Sungmin, but if we need something, I’ll be sure to find you,” Kyuhyun promised, allowing a grin to slip over his lips.

          “Alright,” Sungmin replied before heading back to work.

          Kyuhyun continued watching Sungmin before muttering “Yesung.”

          “On it,” Yesung responded as he typed away on his tablet before handing it to Kyuhyun, showing the dark brunette Korean, Sungmin’s social media accounts.

          Licking his lips as his eyes scanned Sungmin’s photos, Kyuhyun turned to his friend, “Alright, here’s the deal, I will help you obtain your rescue pet, but we do it tonight, and afterwards, we come back here and pick up this one.”

          “Agreed,” Yesung nodded.

          Kyuhyun continued looking at Sungmin’s pictures on the tablet, and sipped his coffee as he whispered “He looks perfect.”


	6. Chapter 6

          A few minutes later, Yesung heard his name be called. Yesung and Kyuhyun both looked up to see Donghae, Siwon, Seunghyun, and Changmin standing next to their table. “Hey man, what are you doing here?” Donghae asked.

          Holding up his bandaged hand, Yesung informs “Had an accident at work and need to get some stitches.”

          “Sorry to hear that dude,” Donghae replied before turning to Kyuhyun. “Who’s your friend?”

          “Oh this is my friend Kyuhyun,” Yesung introduced. “Kyuhyun, these are the detectives I work with.”

          Kyuhyun remained silent as he drank his coffee and glared at the detectives. “He doesn’t say much, does he?” Seunghyun wondered.

          “Not around police,” Yesung said. “Kyuhyun doesn’t like cops.”

          “Why not?” Siwon asked.

          “They’re too nosy,” Kyuhyun muttered, as Siwon continued looking at him. “They don’t help the ones who need it the most until it’s too late.”

          “This guy’s a little weird,” Changmin whispered to the others.

          “Anyways, what are you guys doing here?” Yesung inquired, eager to change the subject.

          “Lunch,” Changmin informed.

          “Or as I also call it, the meal between Changmin’s daily Oreo binges,” Seunghyun remarked.

          “Hey Donghae,” Sungmin greeted as he walked up to the detectives. “What are you and your friends doing here?”

          “Hey Sungmin, we’re here to get some lunch,” Donghae replied.

          “Okay, I’ll go put your usual orders in,” Sungmin responded before walking to the back of the restaurant, not noticing Kyuhyun still looking at him.

          As the detectives sat down at the table across from Yesung and Kyuhyun, Donghae asked “So how do you guys know each other?”

          “We went to high school together and stayed friends after graduation,” Yesung informed.

          “So what do you do?” Changmin wondered as he looked at Kyuhyun.

          “My business is private,” Kyuhyun lowly said before drinking down the last of his coffee. “How do you know him?” Kyuhyun demanded, motioning to Sungmin who was in the back working at the cash register.

          “Yeah, Donghae who is that?” Yesung agreed.

          “Oh, he’s my younger cousin,” Donghae stated, causing both Yesung and Kyuhyun to look at the detective.

          “Your cousin?” Yesung repeated. “I never knew that.”

          “Yeah, he moved in with me to be closer to his university, but is taking some time off this summer to work and earn a little money,” Donghae explained. “I try not to bring my personal life to work with me.”

          “How old is he?” Kyuhyun inquired.

          “Twenty two,” Donghae replied.

          “That’s the right age,” Kyuhyun muttered under his breath. Turning to his friend, Kyuhyun stated “Yesung, we need to go.”

          “Right, well I’ll see you all later at work,” Yesung said as he stood up and smiled at Donghae.

          After Yesung and Kyuhyun exited the café, they walked across the street to where their car was parked and climbed in, before just sitting there silently. “Nothing has changed Yesung,” Kyuhyun whispered as he gripped the steering wheel.

          “You’re still serious about taking the blonde, even after hearing –” Yesung started.

          “What the fuck did I say?!” Kyuhyun demanded as he slammed one of his palms against the steering wheel. “You think that just because he’s cousins with a cop, that that means we can’t be together? If that fucker tries to take my Minnie from me, I’ll bury him.”

          Yesung swallowed before continuing “Donghae’s a good person Kyuhyun.”

          Kyuhyun grabbed the back of Yesung’s head and slammed him forward, smashing his face against the dash board on the passenger side. “I don’t give a fuck what he is, I don’t give a fuck who he is, he will not keep Minnie from me, and you are going to throw him far off the trail if he starts continues asking questions, like you previously did, got it?!” Kyuhyun growled before starting the car.

          Yesung leaned back and pinched his now bleeding nose. “Okay dude, fuck,” he mumbled under his breath. Kyuhyun closed his eyes and exhaled slowly before they drove off from the café.

          Later that night, after the sun had been down for hours, Kyuhyun and Yesung sat in their car outside an apartment complex. “Make sure you clean up after you get through playing,” Kyuhyun reminded as he handed a syringe to Yesung.

          “Don’t worry, it’s second nature to me now,” Yesung promised before he slipped on a pair of black gloves and stepped out of the vehicle. “Give me twenty minutes, twenty five tops.” Kyuhyun nodded before Yesung pulled his hood up over his head to conceal himself as he headed inside the apartment complex. Looking down at his phone, Yesung read the address of the appropriate apartment a final time before ascending to the correct location.

          As soon as Yesung reached the right apartment, he heard crying on the other side. “Please,” the voice begged. “Please I don’t want to do it tonight.”

          Yesung immediately recognized it as Ryeowook’s voice, and his heart pounded as he heard the sound of a smack and the boyfriend yell “I told you to never tell me no, bitch! If I want to fuck you, then I will fuck you, and there’s nothing you can do about it. What, you think that fucking computer geek from the police will help you? Bullshit, he doesn’t care about you! Now get the fuck in there and shower, you know the rules!” The loud sound of what was presumably the bathroom door, rang out as it was slammed shut.

          Gritting his teeth, Yesung fished a knife out of his jacket pocket and used it to quickly pick the lock before thrusting the door open and hurrying inside to once again be face to face with Ryeowook’s abusive boyfriend. The boyfriend was shocked for a moment, but then angrily demanded “What the fuck are you doing in my apartment?!” He tried lunging at Yesung, only for Yesung to slice at him with his knife, creating a huge gash on his palm. The boyfriend screamed in pain before attempting to hit Yesung again, only to receive another slash of the knife on his arm.

          Dropping his knife, Yesung grabbed the abuser and wrapped his hands around his throat as he slammed the boyfriend back against the wall and proceeded to squeeze. “I told you I would kill you if you touched him again,” Yesung growled.

          The boyfriend then kneed Yesung in the stomach, causing the raven haired Korean to release his grip on the abuser. He punched Yesung’s face, sending him down to the ground before repeatedly kicking Yesung in the stomach and ribs. “You think you can just fucking come in here and take what’s mine?!” the boyfriend yelled before grabbing an empty soju bottle and smashing it on the back of Yesung’s head, causing Yesung to drop to the ground. The boyfriend then took a breath and rolled Yesung over to his back before kneeling down and muttering “He knows what’s good for him and knows better than to ever think about leaving me for someone like you. But you know what I’m gonna do? Since you have a fucking hard-on for my bitch, I’m gonna fuck him right in front of you, and you can listen to him scream.” Yesung mumbled something under his breath as he discretely reached into his jacket pocket. “What was that?” the boyfriend taunted as he leaned in closer.

          Suddenly, Yesung thrust a Taser against the boyfriend’s chest roughly, sending him down to his back on the floor. Once he was incapacitated, Yesung pinned him down, punched his face over and over, and stated “I said, you won’t abuse him ever again.” Pulling his knife out, Yesung pressed the blade against the boyfriend’s throat and said “Give me a reason why I should allow your fucking existence to continue.”

          Before either of them said anything, they heard “Yesung.”

          Looking up, Yesung saw Ryeowook standing in the doorway to the bathroom wearing only a towel wrapped tightly around his still soaked body. Immediately, Yesung sat up and requested “Please stay in there for a minute and get dressed while I take care of this piece of shit.”

          “You’re not gonna kill him are you?” Ryeowook asked, looking at the current state of his boyfriend, who was about to pass out.

          Yesung sighed before responding “No Ryeowook, please go ahead and get dressed.” When Ryeowook still hesitated, Yesung stood up and set his knife down before removing one of his gloves and calmly approaching Ryeowook, who took a step back. “It’s okay,” he whispered, lightly brushing Ryeowook’s damp hair with his fingertips. Now that he was closer, Yesung could see fresh bruises on Ryeowook’s face and body, and promised “Everything will be okay, please trust me.”

          Ryeowook had tears glistening in his eyes before reluctantly nodding and walking back into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Yesung heard the boyfriend groan on the floor and turned to see him struggle to get up before the boyfriend grabbed Yesung’s knife and pointed it at him. “I’m gonna kill you, you freak,” the boyfriend panted before he attacked Yesung, only for him to grab the blade of the knife, and not break his stoic, angry glance at the boyfriend.

          Blood oozed out of Yesung’s hand, down the blade rapidly, but Yesung never showed signs of breaking, much to the disillusioned horror of the boyfriend. Yesung yanked the knife out of the boyfriend’s grasp and tossed it back before knocking the boyfriend down once more. As the boyfriend tried to catch his breath, Yesung looked around and quickly snatched up a lamp cord and wrapped it around the boyfriend’s neck, listening to the sound of him gasp and choke as he clawed at his throat, trying to loosen the cord’s restraint. Finally, after a few moments of fighting against Yesung, the boyfriend unconsciously fell forward. Taking a breath, Yesung released the cords and looked around at the mess all over the apartment that had been created during the feud. Hearing the door open, Yesung heard “Y-you killed him.” Turning, Yesung saw Ryeowook, now dressed, looking at his boyfriend on the ground. “You promised you wouldn’t kill him!” Ryeowook cried as he trying to hit Yesung.

          Yesung grabbed Ryeowook’s shoulders in an effort to calm him down. “He’s not dead, he’s just knocked out,” Yesung muttered.

          Ryeowook’s hysteria seemed to settle as he asked “What?”

          “Look, he’s just unconscious, he’s not dead. I promise I’m not gonna kill him in front of you,” Yesung pointed out. When Ryeowook saw that Yesung was telling the truth, he slowly sat down on the bed and allowed Yesung to sit next to him. “I came to take you away from him, I don’t want him to hurt you ever again,” Yesung informed as he gently touched Ryeowook’s face.

          “It won’t matter,” Ryeowook whispered. “He’ll find me, one way or another.”

          “I’ll make sure he doesn’t, I’ll take you where he’ll never find you,” Yesung promised. He moved his thumb across Ryeowook’s cheek, wiping away a falling tear. “Ryeowook, I don’t want to go to work one morning to discover he’s been arrested because he’s killed you. I know he’s hurt you in more ways than one, and I would never hurt you like he did.”

          After a few minutes of silence, Ryeowook nodded slowly and muttered “Okay.”

          Standing up, Ryeowook moved to get a duffel bag out from underneath the bed. He walked over to the small closet before gasping suddenly when he felt a prick against the side of his neck. Yesung shushed him and whispered “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s just something to help you sleep awhile, it’s okay.” Yesung pulled the syringe needle out of Ryeowook’s neck and caught the brunette as he passed out, and lie him on the bed, stroking his hair softly for a moment. Yesung then shoved all of Ryeowook’s clothing and toiletries into the bag, zipping it up hastily. As soon as he zipped up the duffel bag, Yesung looked down at the unconscious boyfriend, and knew that the bastard hadn’t suffered enough and dragged him into the bathroom.

          A few minutes later, the boyfriend groaned as he awoke and found that he was lying in the bathtub filled with water. He started to move about before freezing when he saw Yesung cleaning blood off the door handle with bleach. “What the fuck did you do to me?” he rasped.

          “I wouldn’t move too much if I were you,” Yesung advised, as he flushed down the blood covered paper towels. “Your ankle is tied to a rope which is tied to the toaster I found in the kitchen. If you try to get up, that toaster will drop in the water and fucking electrocute you. And there’s no way you can untie it, because I tied your hands behind your back. Good luck trying to get out.”

          “Where the fuck is Ryeowook?” the boyfriend asked.

          “Why do you care?” Yesung huffed. “All you ever did was hurt him, and I will not let him be subjected to that; so as much as I would love to stay and watch you die, I’m taking Ryeowook far away from you, but I pray that I come into work in a few days and hear that your sorry ass is dead.”

          He walked out into the other room and heaved the duffel bag over his shoulder before picking up the still knocked out Ryeowook. “That bitch is my property!” the boyfriend screamed from inside the bathroom. “I will find you!” 

          “Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll meet in Hell someday,” Yesung replied. Yesung looked around the apartment to make sure he’d cleaned everything up before leaving with Ryeowook, locking the door behind them.

          Quickly, Yesung carried Ryeowook downstairs out of the apartment complex and across the street to the car where Kyuhyun was waiting. “That was quick,” Kyuhyun noted as Yesung placed Ryeowook gently in the trunk of their car.

          “I showed restraint,” Yesung remarked as he shut the trunk and got into the passenger seat.

          Kyuhyun checked his phone and said “Well it was perfect timing, the café should be closing soon.” He then put the car in drive and headed back towards the café where they acquainted earlier that day.

          Meanwhile, back inside the café, Sungmin was wiping down countertops when his phone rang. “Hello?” he answered as he continued cleaning.

          “Hey Sungmin, I’m gonna be a few hours late tonight, I’m about to head back over to the hospital to check on Hyukjae, so don’t worry about dinner for me,” Donghae explained.

          “Okay, I’m just now about to head home, I just have a couple more things to do and then heading back to the apartment,” Sungmin informed as he turned chairs up onto the tables.

          “Alright, just be careful,” Donghae cautioned.

          Sungmin laughed quietly before promising “I always try to be careful. You don’t have to worry about me so much.”

          “I know, but if I don’t, then who else will?” Donghae replied.

          Sungmin smiled before saying “Okay, well I may be asleep when you come home so if I am then I’ll see you in the morning.”

          “Alright, talk to you later,” Donghae responded.

          “Okay, bye Donghae,” Sungmin said.

          “Bye Sungmin,” Donghae echoed before the cousins hung up their phones.

          Sungmin exited the café after turning off the lights, and locked the front door before hearing “Hey there.”

          Startled, Sungmin slightly jumped before turning to the side to see Kyuhyun standing a few feet away on the sidewalk next to him. “Hi, you’re that guy from earlier, right?” Sungmin asked. After watching Kyuhyun nod, Sungmin added “Well I’m sorry, but we just closed for the night, but if you come back tomorrow morning, we open up at seven.”

          “I’m not here for the coffee,” Kyuhyun muttered as he took a couple of steps closer to Sungmin.

          “Then why are you here?” Sungmin curiously inquired.

          “To see you,” Kyuhyun replied in a quiet tone.

          Sungmin looked down as he tried to hide a grin and shyly inquired “What’s so special about me?”

          “Everything,” Kyuhyun stated, taking another step closer, so that they were only inches apart.

          “I-if you come back in the morning, we can have coffee and talk before my shift,” Sungmin stuttered.

          Kyuhyun smirked before reaching out to touch Sungmin’s blonde hair. “You’re so beautiful, just as beautiful as I remember,” Kyuhyun whispered. Before Sungmin could reply, he gasped suddenly as Kyuhyun stuck a syringe needle in his neck and injected liquid into his body. The dark brunette Korean shushed Sungmin as the blonde closed his eyes and felt his body go limp and fall. Kyuhyun wrapped his arms around Sungmin’s body, and picked him up before carrying him through the alleyway to the back of the café. There, Yesung was waiting in the car, while wrapping up his injured hand with spare gauze he kept in their vehicle. Kyuhyun opened the trunk and lie Sungmin down next to Ryeowook. Smiling down at the blonde, Kyuhyun closed the trunk and climbed back into the driver’s seat as he and Yesung drove away with their trophies. 


	7. Chapter 7

          “So how are you feeling ever since they took the staples out?” Donghae asked as he sat next to Hyukjae in his hospital room.

          “I feel better,” Hyukjae admitted. “Still sore, but I figure that feeling will linger for a while.”

          “Did they give you anything for the pain?” Donghae wondered.

          “Yeah, every few hours a nurse will come in and administer some kind of muscle relaxer into my IV and it helps numb the pain for a bit,” Hyukjae explained. “I really appreciate you coming here Donghae.”

          “It’s no problem, really just following procedure,” Donghae replied with a smile. “Have the doctors said if your sight will ever be fully restored or not?”

          “They said that the bleach destroyed a lot of my vision, but that with special glasses, I’ll be able to clearly see once my eyes become adjusted to the sensitivity of light,” Hyukjae informed.

          “Well that’s good to hear, at least you’ll be able to take your bandages off soon,” Donghae encouraged.

          “Will you be here when they take the bandages off?” Hyukjae inquired.

          “I will do my best, if I am not, it’s because I’m out on a case,” Donghae responded.

          “Oh okay,” Hyukjae muttered.

          Donghae reached out and gently touched Hyukjae’s arm. “But I will try my hardest to make sure that I am here for you,” he promised.

          “Thank you, for everything,” Hyukjae replied, reaching up to touch Donghae’s wrist.

          “It’s all part of my job,” Donghae said with a smile across his lips. Looking at the clock on the wall, Donghae realized how late it was getting and knew that visiting hours at the hospital would be ending soon. “I have to go, but I’ll come check on you tomorrow. If an emergency comes up, you know where to reach me.”

          “Alright, thank you Donghae, goodnight,” Hyukjae called as Donghae started out the door.

          The brunette detective paused and turned his head slightly, echoing “Goodnight Hyukjae.” He exited the room and shut the door gently behind him.

          After returning home to the apartment, Donghae found the apartment to be pitch black inside. Quietly, Donghae entered the bedroom he shared with Sungmin and lie down on his bed carefully, not wanting to wake his sleeping cousin. Not long after Donghae lie down, did he immediately fall asleep for the night. The next morning, Donghae groaned as he opened his eyes and sat up. Looking over at Sungmin’s bed, Donghae noticed it was neatly made. “Sungmin, you in the kitchen?” he called from the bedroom as he stood up. When there was no answer, Donghae said aloud to himself “Hmm, must’ve had an early shift today.” Usually Sungmin would leave a note or a text if he was working early, but there was no note anywhere to be found. However, Donghae figured Sungmin had been running late and just forgot, so he brushed off his cousin’s absence and continued to get ready for his shift.

          When Donghae reached the police station, he had just walked in when Siwon called him over to the desks. “Hey you got a call and it seems urgent,” Siwon informed.

          “Who is it?” Donghae wondered as he set hung his jacket on the back of the chair.

          “He said he’s the manager of that café where your cousin works,” Siwon stated.

          Donghae took the phone and said “Hello?”                  

          “Hi Donghae, I was wondering if you knew where Sungmin was at, because he didn’t show up for his shift this morning,” the manager inquired.

          “What do you mean he didn’t show up?” Donghae asked, starting to get worried.

          “He had the morning shift, but never showed up which is not like him. I tried calling him, figuring he was sick or had an appointment somewhere, but he hasn’t answered or returned any of my calls,” the café manager explained. “And with you being his roommate and cousin, I thought you might know.”

          “No, but I’ll find out and have him call you,” Donghae replied.

          “Alright thanks Donghae,” the manager said before hanging up.

          “You okay man?” Changmin asked, looking at Donghae’s expression.

          “Sungmin didn’t show up at work this morning, which is not normal,” Donghae informed as he called Sungmin’s number. It rang several times before going to voicemail. “He’s not answering, something’s not right here.”       

          “Are you sure he didn’t have some kind of appointment?” Siwon questioned.

          “Yeah, or what if his phone is on vibrate or turned off?” Seunghyun added.

          “No, he always keeps the ringer on in case of an emergency, and there’s no way he’d turn it off without letting someone know,” Donghae replied. “I’m gonna go over to the café and check around there and see if anybody has any idea. Siwon, will you tell the Captain?”

          “Sure,” Siwon agreed as the others watched Donghae exit the police station in a rush.

          Donghae continued dialing Sungmin’s number as he walked over to one of the patrol cars. “C’mon Sungmin pick up, c’mon dude, pick up the fucking phone,” he muttered to himself.

          Sungmin opened his eyes slowly and blinked as he looked and saw that he was sitting on a bed, with his wrists tied to the headrail. He tugged against the restraints for a few moments before hearing crying near him. Looking around, Sungmin’s eyes landed on Ryeowook, who was currently sitting against a support beam, with his wrists handcuffed behind his back. “Hey,” Sungmin quietly called over to Ryeowook. “What happened? What are we doing here?”

          “I don’t know,” Ryeowook responded through tears. “I’m so scared though.”

          “We’ll be okay, we’ll be fine,” Sungmin said, hoping to calm Ryeowook down. Truthfully, Sungmin didn’t believe his own words, but he wanted to help. “What’s your name?”

          “Ryeowook,” the brunette introduced.

          “I’m Sungmin,” the blonde replied. “So Ryeowook, what is the last thing you do remember?”

          “I was at my apartment with my boyfriend and then Yesung came in and –” Ryeowook started.

          “Did you say Yesung?” Sungmin inquired.

          “Yeah, why, do you know him?” Ryeowook wondered.

          “My cousin works with a Yesung,” Sungmin informed. “But it can’t be the same one.”

          Before either of them could say anything else, the two heard footsteps coming closer to them. Ryeowook closed his eyes and started crying harder as Yesung approached him and knelt down in front of him. He gently shushed the trembling brunette and reached out to lightly stroke his hair with his fingertips, before whispering “It’s okay, you’re okay.”

          “Yesung?” Sungmin asked in a shocked tone. “No, no, no this isn’t happening. What are we doing here?”

          “Look it’s difficult to explain, but the reason will become clearer with time,” Yesung replied.

          “What are you talking about? Where’s Donghae?” Sungmin questioned.

          “He’s somewhere where he can’t keep you from me,” Kyuhyun stated as he slowly entered. Kyuhyun sat down on the bed next to the blonde and deeply gazed at him. “That fucking cop tried to hide you from me, but I finally found you.” Reaching out, Kyuhyun lightly brushed his fingers across Sungmin’s cheek. “You’re so beautiful.” Sungmin closed his eyes tightly and slowly moved his face away from Kyuhyun’s touch. “What’s wrong?”

          “I just, I don’t wanna be touched right now,” Sungmin nervously whispered.

          “But I’ve missed you Minnie,” Kyuhyun replied, placing his hand on Sungmin’s face again.

          The blonde Korean’s eyes widened. “What did you call me?” he muttered.

          Kyuhyun smiled. “I called you your nickname,” he said.

          “H-how did you know that used to be my nickname?” Sungmin questioned.

          “Because I gave it to you,” Kyuhyun reminded. “Don’t you remember?” Sungmin nodded. “It’ll come back to you with time.” Kyuhyun leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Sungmin’s, feeling the blonde tremble in fear. “I’m just so happy I finally found you Minnie.” When Kyuhyun continued to hear Ryeowook crying a few feet away, he snapped his head around and screamed “Shut him the fuck up!”

          Ryeowook winced and closed his eyes, fearful that one of his captors would hurt him. He quivered as he heard Yesung say “Alright, alright.” Yesung turned to Ryeowook and placed his hands on his face, shushing him quietly. “It’s okay, I need you to be quiet, please, I need you to stop crying, please Ryeowook,” he whispered. Ryeowook gulped down his sobs and opened his eyes, allowing a flood of tears to stream down his cheeks. Yesung gently wiped them away before adding “It’ll be okay, I promise.”

          Once Ryeowook’s hysteria had calmed, Kyuhyun turned back to Sungmin. He saw the tears staining Sungmin’s cheeks, and reached forward to brush them away, before running his hand across the blonde’s cheek, feeling him nervously shudder. Gazing at Sungmin, something about him made Kyuhyun slowly retract his hand. “Yesung,” Kyuhyun said, while keeping his eyes on Sungmin.

          “Yeah?” the raven haired Korean replied.

          “I think we should let them rest for a while,” Kyuhyun decided. Leaning towards Sungmin, Kyuhyun placed a chaste kiss on his forehead and whispered to the blonde “I want my Minnie to stay well.”

          Kyuhyun and Yesung left Sungmin and Ryeowook tied up and retreated back to the other side of the warehouse. “Do you know him, the scary one?” Ryeowook wondered. “Because he seems to know you.”

          “No,” Sungmin slowly responded. “I just remember seeing him yesterday; I never met him before then, at least, I don’t think I did. I only know Yesung because he works with my cousin. How do _you_ know Yesung?”

          “A few days ago, my now ex-boyfriend was taken in for abuse allegations and Yesung hated that he treated me that way, so he offered to help, but I never knew he would go to the lengths that he did,” Ryeowook explained.

          “What’d he do?” Sungmin asked.

          “I didn’t see hardly anything, only heard, but he beat up and almost killed my ex, then Yesung promised he’d take me somewhere where I’d be safe. The last thing I remember is passing out and waking up here,” Ryeowook continued. Sungmin yanked hard against the restraints keeping his wrists bound to the headrail, only to no avail; his wrists stayed secured in their place. The blonde threw his head back against the pillow and sighed; no way was he getting free any time soon.

          Back at the precinct, Donghae rushed inside and over to his desk before inserting a flash drive into his computer and pulling up a video. “Did you get the surveillance from yesterday?” Changmin wondered as he and the others gathered around Donghae’s desk.

          “Yeah, hopefully this will give us something useful,” Donghae muttered as he began meticulously watching the footage, hoping to find any clue as to what happened to his cousin. Using his mouse, Donghae scrolled through the footage to the last half hour of the footage. “Wait a minute, this isn’t right,” he whispered to himself.

          “What is it?” Siwon asked as the others glanced at Donghae’s screen.

          “Look at the time stamp,” Donghae indicated, pointing at the bottom left hand corner of the video. “The last bit of footage from last night ended at 9:47 pm, but Sungmin was at work until ten, because I was on the phone with him.”

          Donghae showed his fellow detectives the surveillance video work as normal, but abruptly end at 9:47 pm, showing only a black screen with the clock still running in the bottom corner. “This follows the pattern of the murder victims,” Siwon mumbled.

          Donghae quickly turned and said “Don’t you dare say that, it’s just a technical malfunction.”

          “Look at the tape Donghae, it follows the same pattern; every victim was taken after any surrounding cameras were disabled,” Siwon continued. “You’re gonna have to accept the possibility that Sungmin could potentially be this psycho’s next victim.”

          This caused Donghae to immediately turn and lunge forward at Siwon, pushing him back roughly before Changmin restrained Donghae, and Seunghyun pulled Siwon away from the brunette. “Don’t you fucking say that! He didn’t get taken, he couldn’t have! He couldn’t,” Donghae screamed before dropping down to his knees as sobs poured from his trembling body.

          “You shouldn’t have said that to him,” Seunghyun muttered to Siwon as the two watched Changmin kneel down and try to comfort the distraught officer.

          “What the hell is going on out here?” Kangin questioned as he exited his office.

          “We think Donghae’s cousin has been kidnapped by our perp,” Siwon informed.

          Seeing Donghae the way he was, Kangin instructed “Changmin take Donghae into the break room and let him take a few minutes to gather himself.”

          “Yes sir,” Changmin agreed as he and Kangin both helped Donghae stand, before Changmin escorted Donghae out of the room. He helped Donghae sit in a chair before getting him a cup of water. “We’re gonna find him Donghae, don’t worry.”

          “What if we find him too late?” Donghae wondered. “I was supposed to protect him. When he moved here, my aunt and uncle told me to look after my little cousin, and now this happens. If he ends up like the other victims, my family is gonna ostracize me for the rest of my life.”    

          “Donghae, it’s not your fault that he was taken,” Changmin promised. “You’re good at what you do and you love your cousin, and that to me seems like enough motivation to find him. Trust me, if this had happened to someone I loved, I would do everything in my power to get them back, and we’re gonna do that with Sungmin. This guy is gonna learn he messed with the wrong detectives.”

          Listening to Changmin, Donghae nodded, downing the rest of his water before the two returned to the main room with the others. “You good Donghae?” Kangin inquired in a concerned tone.

          “Not til my cousin is found sir,” Donghae responded, sitting back down at his desk. “Let’s go back earlier in the day and see if we can find anything.”

          Scrolling back several hours on the video feed, Donghae landed on the moment when they were all sitting in the café earlier that day for lunch. “Well there we all are,” Changmin pointed out.

          Suddenly, Kangin double glanced at the screen before requesting “Wait, pause it for a minute.”

          Donghae paused the video before Siwon asked “What is it Captain?”

          “Who were you four eating with?” Kangin questioned.

          “Yesung and his friend,” Donghae said. “What was his name again?”

          “I think Yesung said it was Kyuhyun,” Seunghyun recalled.

          “Yeah that’s what it was,” Donghae agreed.

          “You four keep checking out the surveillance, I need to check something,” Kangin instructed before he walked back into his office and shut the door.

          “That was odd,” Changmin noted before the four detectives continued watching the video.

          Inside Kangin’s office, the Captain went over to his bookshelf and retrieved a thick book from one of the shelves entitled _Gangnam High School Class of ’05,_ before slamming it down on his desk and opening it up. Scanning through the pages, Kangin paused for a minute when he saw his senior year photo surrounded by his friends’ and classmates’ photos. Continuing, Kangin came across the sophomore class photos and froze when saw the face from the video. “Cho Kyuhyun,” he muttered under his breath. Thinking back, Kangin recalled the memories he had of Kyuhyun while they were still in high school.

          _*Flashback 12 years ago*_

          Kangin and two of his best friends, Choi Hyung-wan and Park Sang-hyuk, were walking down the hallway of the school, heading towards their next class, when they heard a scream coming from the bathroom. The three rushed inside to see Cho Kyuhyun bashing their other friend, Lee Seung-chul, into the mirror repeatedly, as another Korean boy crouched in the fetal position in the corner, crying quietly. “Get off him! Get the fuck off him!” Kangin and his friends demanded as they yanked Kyuhyun off of Seung-chul.

          Hyung-wan and Sang-hyuk tried to help their friend stop the blood from gushing out of his head by pressing multiple paper towels against the gash on his face while Kangin pushed Kyuhyun back and yelled “What the fuck is your problem you freak?!”

          “He knows what he did,” Kyuhyun muttered, glaring down at Seung-chul before turning to face the scared, crying Korean teen behind him. Facing Kangin once more, Kyuhyun growled “Leave him alone.”

          _*End Flashback*_

          Kangin shook his head as he thought back, before closing his yearbook and placing it back on the shelf. He exited his office and walked over to Donghae’s desk. “Everything alright sir?” Donghae inquired.

          “I remember this person, Cho Kyuhyun,” Kangin informed, pointing to the blurry image on the screen.

          “How do you know him?” Siwon asked.

          “We went to high school together, but never got along. He was a very, disturbed and quiet person,” Kangin slowly explained.

          “Do you think he could be a suspect?” Seunghyun wondered.

          “I wouldn’t rule him out, but to be safe, let’s try and find some solid evidence before we bring any suspect in,” Kangin instructed. Looking at the video again, Kangin asked “You said that Yesung and Kyuhyun know one another?”

          “Yes sir, Yesung said they were friends since high school,” Donghae informed.

          “That doesn’t make any sense?” Kangin muttered.

          “What do you mean?” Changmin wondered.

          “Because Yesung didn’t go to our high school,” Kangin stated.

          Meanwhile, both Sungmin and Ryeowook gasped as Kyuhyun reentered their secluded area of the warehouse. Neither said a word as Kyuhyun stared intently at Sungmin, a smile slowly creeping across his lips. Kyuhyun’s terrifying presence alone was enough to make Ryeowook begin to cry again. Kyuhyun’s smile vanished quickly as he glared at Ryeowook before slapping the brunette harshly across the face. “Shut the fuck up, you have done nothing but cry ever since you got here,” Kyuhyun lowly scorned. “Yesung!”

          Seconds later, the raven haired accomplice appeared. “What is it?” Yesung asked.

          “Take this out of the room while Minnie and I have alone time,” Kyuhyun instructed, as he roughly grabbed Ryeowook’s arm, forcing him to stand up.

          “Okay,” Yesung agreed before he reached behind Ryeowook and uncuffed him before gently taking his wrists and leading him out of the room, whispering to him “It’s alright, you’re okay, it’s okay.”

          Kyuhyun then shouted “And keep him quiet!”

          “Okay,” Yesung repeated, as he continued leading Ryeowook to another area of the warehouse.

          Kyuhyun stood next to Sungmin and stroked his fingertips through his blonde hair before caressing them down his jaw to take hold of his chin, forcing him to look up at him. “I’ve thought about you every day,” Kyuhyun whispered, moving his thumb across Sungmin’s lower lip. “I’m sorry it’s taken me this long Minnie.”

          “Please don’t touch me,” Sungmin muttered.

          “Alright that’s it,” Kyuhyun said as he climbed onto the bed. “I’m sick of playing games, it’s time for you to remember who you are.” Kyuhyun grabbed Sungmin’s legs and yanked him forward, forcing the blonde onto his back as Kyuhyun climbed on top of him. He ripped open Sungmin’s shirt as the blonde cried and pleaded for Kyuhyun to stop. Ignoring the blonde’s cries, Kyuhyun removed his own shirt, licked his lips and trailed his fingers over Sungmin’s soft, trembling skin before unbuttoning his jeans and forcing them off as well. He pinned Sungmin down and looked down into the blonde’s watery eyes and saw the tears escaping.

          As he gazed into Sungmin’s eyes, Kyuhyun paused for a moment before screaming and collapsing on top of Sungmin, confusing the defenseless blonde. Silence filled the room before Sungmin felt his kidnapper begin to shake as Kyuhyun mumbled through tears, “I can’t do it, I can’t.” Sungmin watched as Kyuhyun raised his head to look at him, reaching forward and slowly placing his hands on Sungmin’s face. “I can’t do something like that to you.” He placed a light kiss on Sungmin’s chest before standing up.

          Kyuhyun turned his back to Sungmin as the blonde cautiously sat up. Even though he had kidnapped and almost raped him, seeing him break down like this, made Sungmin feel a tiny bit of sympathy for Kyuhyun. Not enough to let him sleep with him, but enough for Sungmin to mutter “Thank you, for stopping when I asked.”

          Kyuhyun faced Sungmin once more and sat down next to him on the bed. “We won’t do it until you’re ready, okay Minnie?” Kyuhyun offered.

          Sungmin knew the best way to stay alive was to play along with Kyuhyun’s fantasy, so he replied “Okay Kyuhyun.”

          The dark brunette Korean smiled and touched Sungmin’s face; the blonde trembled again, but this time not in fear, only in nervousness. “I’ve been waiting to hear my name on your lips for a long time,” he responded. Leaning forward, Kyuhyun lovingly pressed his lips to Sungmin’s, nipping at his lower lip ever so often. Sungmin was conflicted about the kiss, he knew he wasn’t supposed to, but Sungmin enjoyed it. Kyuhyun was very loving when he wanted to be, but Sungmin knew it was still very wrong to feel this way. He remembered Donghae talking about how certain biological instincts can’t be controlled and that some feelings just naturally happen, and Sungmin wondered if this was one of those instances.

          When Kyuhyun finally pulled back, Sungmin requested “Can Ryeowook please come stay in here? He keeps me company, and I like talking with him.”

          “Yes, he may in here with you, but when I come in here, he will leave and be with Yesung. Also, if he disobeys me, he will be punished, understood?” Kyuhyun countered. Sungmin nodded. “Good, now I’ll go fix you some food and get you a change of clothes.” Kyuhyun leaned forward and placed another kiss on Sungmin’s forehead before standing back up and smiling at the blonde.

          Sungmin forced a small grin across his lips until Kyuhyun was out of sight. Taking a deep breath, Sungmin buried his face in his hands and sobbed quietly, taking in what had just happened and what had almost just happened to him. “Donghae, where are you?” he cried into his hands, hoping his cousin would rescue him soon.


	8. Chapter 8

          On the other side of the warehouse, Yesung sat Ryeowook down in a chair, listening to the brunette swallow his remaining sobs. “It’s okay Ryeowook, it’s alright,” Yesung promised, brushing Ryeowook’s bangs out of his eyes.

          “No it’s not okay, please stop saying that,” Ryeowook begged as fresh tears spilled from his eyes. “Why did bring me here? You said you wanted to help me.”

          “I do wanna help you,” Yesung reassured, placing his hands on top of Ryeowook’s, before the brunette pulled them away quickly. “I’m sorry, but at least here, I know that bastard isn’t hurting you; at least here I can keep you safe.”

          “What about your friend? You can’t protect me from him; he scares me, he yells at me, he –” Ryeowook started before Yesung shushed him quietly.

          “Ryeowook I know you’re scared, but he’s not gonna do anything to you, okay? I won’t let him,” Yesung said. “Kyuhyun promised me that he wouldn’t hurt you.”

          “H-he already did,” Ryeowook whispered, lowering his head.

          “What?” Yesung asked in a confused tone. Lifting Ryeowook’s head, he saw a dark bruise developing on his cheek from where Kyuhyun had struck Ryeowook a few moments prior. “He did this to you?” Ryeowook fearfully nodded. Yesung gently stroked his thumb across the contusion, anger beginning to boil inside him at the thought of Kyuhyun hitting Ryeowook. “I’ll make sure this never happens again.” Leaning forward, Yesung placed a quick kiss against Ryeowook’s cheek, causing the brunette to calm down more as the two looked at one another.

          Suddenly, Ryeowook jumped as Kyuhyun entered the room. Yesung looked over at his friend and stood up. “We need to find something to feed them,” Kyuhyun muttered as he knelt down and pulled out the suitcase from underneath his bed.

          “Alright, I’ll get something started,” Yesung replied as he stood up. “Kyuhyun, did you hit Ryeowook?”

          Without hesitating, Kyuhyun responded “Yeah, why?”

          Yesung grit his teeth before reminding “You said you wouldn’t touch him.”

          “Well he wouldn’t shut the fuck up,” Kyuhyun said as he stood up. “Train him to be quiet and I won’t have to discipline him in the future, okay?”

          “Fine,” Yesung sighed before Kyuhyun left the room once more.

          “Yesung, you’re bleeding,” Ryeowook noticed.                  

          Glancing down, Yesung noticed that his bandaged hand was in fact bleeding again, more than likely from Yesung forcing his hand into a discrete, tight fist. “Shit,” Yesung growled before sitting down in a chair and unraveling the bloody bandage.

          “My God, what did you do?” Ryeowook whispered as he gazed at Yesung’s injured hand.

          “It’s nothing,” Yesung brushed off as he grabbed a bottle of peroxide and uncapped it, pouring the clear liquid onto his palm, grimacing as it burned and bubbled.

          “Don’t do that,” Ryeowook said as he stood up. Yesung looked at him, causing Ryeowook to immediately sit back down nervously. “Do you have any cotton balls?”

          “Yeah,” Yesung confirmed as he opened up his desk drawer and pulled some out.

          Ryeowook slowly took one of the cotton balls before quietly requesting “Let me see your hand please.” Yesung presented his palm to Ryeowook, who carefully took the ailed flesh in his own hand and began to lightly dab the cotton ball against the large gash on his palm. “You have to treat wounds gently, or else it agitates it, and it won’t heal properly, I know from experience.” Yesung knew what that meant by Ryeowook’s tone, and remained silent as Ryeowook continued to clean the excess medicine from his hand. “How did you get this?”

          “It was from the fight I had with your abuser,” Yesung informed.

          Ryeowook gazed up at Yesung before turning his hand over to look at Yesung’s red, blood covered knuckles. “What about these?” he continued.

          “These are from when I punched a mirror out of anger because I heard him hit you over the phone. I don’t know, it just caused me to see red for a minute and the next thing I knew, my hand hurt like shit and there’s blood and glass everywhere, but at that moment I didn’t care. I cared more about saving you from him, because I didn’t like how he treated you,” Yesung quietly explained.

          “You got these because of me?” Ryeowook asked, lightly running his fingertips over Yesung’s injuries.

          “It’s alright though, because I got you out of there, away from him,” Yesung replied.

          Ryeowook lightly dabbed a cotton ball soaked in peroxide on top of Yesung’s knuckles as he whispered “I appreciate that you wanted to help me, but I –”

          Yesung raised his uninjured hand and placed it on Ryeowook’s face as he interrupted, “I know you don’t trust me, and I don’t blame you, I wouldn’t trust me either, but whether you believe it or not, my intentions are in no way to harm you; I’m not him Ryeowook, I’m not him.” Feeling Yesung stroke his thumb across the bruise on his cheek, Ryeowook looked at his raven haired captor and saw the emotion in his eyes as the two silently looked at one another.

          “I’ve been keeping these safe for you Minnie,” Kyuhyun informed as he opened up the suitcase and showed Sungmin the contents.

          The blonde saw Ziploc bags filled with clothes, a photograph, and camera; the same items that Kyuhyun had shown a previous victim. “T-thank you,” Sungmin nervously replied. He wanted to make sure he said the right things, so as not to anger Kyuhyun and make his captor do something drastic or fatal.

          “Do you remember when we took this picture?” Kyuhyun asked, picking up the photo and smiling at the memory. Gazing at the picture, Sungmin saw that the person in the picture with Kyuhyun looked very similar to him; blonde hair, feminine face, but Sungmin knew this wasn’t him.

          “I’m sorry, I don’t, it’s been a while,” Sungmin responded. “Can you remind me?”

          Kyuhyun paused as he gazed at the photo, before setting it down and opening up a Ziploc bag, retrieving the contents within. “We can recollect after you eat something, okay?” Kyuhyun suggested. “Now, I’m going to change your clothes, so I have to untie your hands. Will my Minnie stay if I do that?” Sungmin reluctantly nodded, terrified at what would happen if he disobeyed Kyuhyun and made his captor snap. Smiling, Kyuhyun untied Sungmin’s wrists from the headrail, allowing the blonde to slowly lower his numb arms. Kyuhyun gently pulled Sungmin to sit up before unfolding the shirt and dressing the blonde in the clothing. “It still fits perfectly,” Kyuhyun whispered with a smile across his lips.

          Now Sungmin was even more creeped out; the fact that his kidnapper had clothing that fit him perfectly raised more questions. Sungmin looked down at the old, faded garment on his body before nervously joking “I guess I haven’t changed much.”

          “No, no you haven’t Minnie,” Kyuhyun agreed as he placed his hand on Sungmin’s face, stroking his cheek gently. Sungmin couldn’t help but avert his eyes from Kyuhyun once more; even though Kyuhyun’s behavior seemed calm and collected now, Sungmin still wanted to practice caution. “C’mon, we are preparing food for you and the other one.” Kyuhyun took Sungmin’s hands and pulled the blonde up to his feet. Sungmin wanted to run, he wanted to flee his captor and run away from this place, find Donghae, and forget all of this, but no matter how much he wanted to run, he couldn’t. The blonde was frozen in his spot, eyes locked with Kyuhyun. Sungmin could see malice in the dark orbs, yet he also saw gentleness mixed in, which was somehow mesmerizing to the blonde. He gasped quietly and broke his trance when he felt Kyuhyun lean forward and place a chaste kiss on his forehead, whispering “I will take care of you Minnie, you don’t have to worry.” Sungmin swallowed roughly before allowing Kyuhyun to lead him across the warehouse to join Yesung and Ryeowook.

          Back at the precinct, Donghae still sat at his desk looking over the footage from the café. “Dude you’ve been staring at that footage for the past few hours; have you made any breakthroughs?” Changmin wondered as he handed his fellow officer a cup of coffee.

          “No, and that’s what pisses me off, I can’t find anything,” Donghae growled.

          “Maybe you should try another approach then,” Siwon suggested. “If the footage can’t help us, then we should try other clues.”

          “What other clues?” Donghae demanded, snapping his head to the side to look at his partner. “This is possibly the last footage of my cousin, and I’m gonna fucking do everything I can to find him.”

          “Donghae,” Kangin stated firmly.

          “Yes sir,” he muttered, turning to face his captain.

          “Take a few minutes,” Kangin instructed.

          “Yes sir,” Donghae repeated, grabbing his jacket off of the back of his chair. “I’m gonna go check on Hyukjae at the hospital.”

          After Donghae left, Kangin returned to his office and sat down at his desk, looking down at his yearbook he had reopened. Flipping through the pages, Kangin landed on a page and saw a photo of Kyuhyun. This just happened to be the exact same photo that Kyuhyun had been trying to show Sungmin earlier in an effort to help him recollect. Kangin remembered the day this photo was taken, and began to recall the memory.

          _*Flashback 12 years ago*_

          It was lunchtime at the high school, and Kangin and his friends were wandering around the courtyard area where most students ate and gossiped with their friends in between classes. “Check out over there dude,” Hyung-wan pointed out.

          Kangin and his friends turned to see a young blonde Korean boy sitting underneath a tree on the edge of the courtyard, looking down at his camera. They also saw Kyuhyun sitting there with his arm wrapped around the blonde. Kyuhyun kissed the blonde’s head before standing up and walking off, presumably to get some food or drinks, leaving the blonde there by himself. “C’mon let’s go fuck with him,” Sang-hyuk suggested.

          “Alright, but let’s try not to get detention again,” Kangin reminded as he and his three friends headed over to where the blonde was sitting.

          “What’s up you little freak?” Seung-chul mocked as they approached him.

          The blonde’s eyes widened and he frantically looked around for Kyuhyun as the three yanked him up to his feet and trapped him next to the tree. “Not so safe without that freak of a boyfriend, are you?” Sang-hyuk laughed as he pushed the timid blonde against the tree multiple times.

          Kangin snatched the camera from the blonde’s hands and gazed at the photo present on the screen; a photo of the blonde with Kyuhyun. “How cute,” Kangin sarcastically said.

          “I-it’s for the yearbook,” the blonde muttered nervously as he reached for his camera.

          “You think people want to see you or Kyuhyun’s face in the yearbook? No, you’re both fucking losers and freaks who will never be more than just dead weight in this world,” Kangin remarked as he held the camera just out of the blonde’s grasp as the others knocked him back against the tree again.

          “Get the fuck away from him!” Kyuhyun demanded as he ran up and shoved Kangin, Seung-chul, Hyung-wan, and Sang-hyuk away from the blonde. “I told you all the leave my Minnie alone.”

          Sang-hyuk looked past Kyuhyun, directly at the blonde and mocked “Must feel degrading having your boyfriend call you a girlie nickname.”

          “Then again, he probably is a girl, seeing as how he acts like a bitch all the time,” Hyung-wan added before all four guys laughed.

          Kangin saw Kyuhyun’s hand tighten into a fist before he reached out and grabbed the camera out of Kangin’s hands, giving it to the blonde, who protectively held it to his chest. Glaring at Kangin, Kyuhyun growled lowly “I will be so happy when you four graduate in a few months, then you’ll never subject Minnie to your abuse again.”

          Something about the way Kyuhyun stared at him made Kangin take a step backwards. There was definitely murder in Kyuhyun’s eyes, and Kangin knew he and his friends couldn’t afford another disciplinary action against them. “C’mon guys, let’s leave these idiots to their own devices,” Kangin suggested before they turned and reluctantly headed back to the other side of the courtyard. On their way back, Kangin glanced over his shoulder to see Kyuhyun holding the blonde in his arms, comforting the obviously distraught Korean teen.

          _*End Flashback*_

          Kangin sighed again before closing the book and placing it back on the shelf. He returned to his desk and began his work once more.

          At the hospital, Hyukjae calmly lie asleep in his bed. Quietly, the door to Hyukjae’s room opened up and in walked two figures dressed in dark clothing. The pair silently made their way over to the bed and stood next to the injured blonde. One of them reached down and lightly shook him, causing the blonde to stir. “Hello? Nurse?” Hyukjae asked in a confused tone, as normally the nurses would speak to him if they woke him up.

          “We told you we’d find you,” said a voice. Hyukjae’s blood turned ice cold and his heart nearly stopped pounding as he listened to the voice.

          “No, oh god no,” Hyukjae begged. He began screaming, but soon found his screams muffled as a pillow was roughly shoved against his face in an attempt to smother him.

          As Donghae walked down the hallway, he heard screams coming from Hyukjae’s room and rushed inside to find the blonde trashing about on the bed, screaming profusely. “Hyukjae, Hyukjae!” Donghae called as he placed his hands on the blonde’s shoulders.

          Slowly, Hyukjae stopped screaming and began gasping for breath. “Donghae?” he asked, reaching out a hand to grab the officer’s arm.

          “What happened?” Donghae questioned.

          “They were here, they were in here, I heard them, t-they were trying to k-kill me,” Hyukjae choked out as he began shaking.

          Turning back to the officers in charge of guarding Hyukjae’s room, Donghae asked “Has anyone come in here?”

          “No,” they replied. “No one except the nurses, and we’ve been here all day.”

          “Hyukjae, there was no one here, you must’ve had a nightmare,” Donghae informed.

          “B-but it felt so real,” Hyukjae cried as he leaned against Donghae and sobbed.

          Donghae gently reached up and placed his hand on Hyukjae’s back as he whispered “It’s alright, it’s okay now, no one’s gonna hurt you anymore.”

          Hyukjae suddenly grabbed Donghae’s wrist and pleaded “Please, please don’t leave me alone again, I’m so scared that they’re gonna find me.”

          “We’ve got twenty four hour watch on your room, no one is gonna come in here without approval,” Donghae promised.

          “Please Donghae, please just stay,” Hyukjae begged through tears. “I feel safer with you here.”

          “I can’t Hyukjae,” Donghae informed.

          “Why? Why won’t you?” Hyukjae asked.

          Unintentionally, Donghae snapped “Because I have a more important matter to deal with right now, okay?!”

          Slowly, Hyukjae let go of Donghae’s wrist before muttering “Okay.”

          Donghae’s mouth suddenly dropped open when he realized what he’d just done. “Hyukjae, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I snapped like that, it’s just –”

          “I want you to please go Donghae,” Hyukjae whispered as he curled up in the hospital bed under the blanket.

          “Hyukjae –” Donghae started.

          “Please Donghae, just go,” the blonde repeated as tears discretely slid out from underneath his bandaged eyes.

          Donghae stood there for a moment looking at the blonde before walking towards the door. He took the handle before turning to gaze at the blonde once more. “I’m sorry Hyukjae,” he lowly said before exiting the hospital room.

          Meanwhile, inside the warehouse, Sungmin and Ryeowook were sat down at a table while each had a bowl of food and glass of water set in front of them. The two nervously looked at one another before Yesung spoke up. “Don’t worry, it’s not gonna make you sick, we want you both to stay taken care of.”

          Sungmin was the first one brave enough to take the spoon in his hand and scoop up some of the rice in the bowl before bringing it to his mouth. Ryeowook watched as Sungmin chewed the grains before whispering “It tastes fine to me.” Ryeowook then picked up his spoon and tried some of his rice before nodding in agreement with the blonde. Unpleasant silence filled the room as Kyuhyun and Yesung just stood there and watched their captives eat, before Sungmin glanced up and added nervously “Thank you for feeding us, we appreciate it.”

          “Yes, thank you,” Ryeowook echoed.

          Hearing this caused both Yesung and Kyuhyun to smile as they sat down beside Sungmin and Ryeowook. “I know it’s not much, but after work tomorrow, I’ll go by the store and get some more food,” Yesung promised, gently rubbing his hand up and down Ryeowook’s back. The brunette flinched for a moment before reluctantly easing into his captor’s touch. “Is there anything you’d like?”

          “I would really like to take a shower if possible please,” Ryeowook requested.

          “Alright, when you’re finished, I’ll take you to our bathroom, and I brought you a bag of clothes so you can change if you want,” Yesung replied, pointing over to the duffel bag he had taken from Ryeowook’s apartment the night he rescued him. Ryeowook couldn’t believe that Yesung had actually brought his clothes for him. This gesture made the brunette begin to wonder if Yesung was serious about keeping him here to protect him instead of murdering him like he had originally thought.

          When Ryeowook had finished eating, Yesung escorted him over to the bathroom, leaving Sungmin and Kyuhyun alone. “I’m glad you ate something; the last thing I want is for my Minnie to get sick,” Kyuhyun muttered as he stroked the blonde’s hair.

          Sungmin couldn’t help but cringe every time Kyuhyun touched him, even if it was gentle. Eager to change the subject, Sungmin asked “Will you please tell me more about the picture now?”

          “Oh right,” Kyuhyun remembered. “I’ll be right back.” He kissed the side of Sungmin’s head before standing up. Seconds later, he reappeared holding the photograph from earlier. “This is from back when we were in high school and we were happy together and it was a nice day out,” Kyuhyun recollected, before his eyes turned dark and his voice became lower. “Until _he_ showed up with those fucking idiot friends of his.”

          Seeing Kyuhyun’s expression change so rapidly and drastically, Sungmin whispered “Will you tell me about that day? Will you remind me of how happy we were?”

          Kyuhyun looked over at Sungmin and immediately smiled before stroking the blonde’s face. “You always did hate seeing me upset Minnie,” he said, running his thumb across Sungmin’s lower lip.

          _*Flashback 12 years ago*_

          Lunchtime at his high school was proceeding as usual, and Kyuhyun sat on the grass underneath a tree near the courtyard with his boyfriend. “You still like your camera Minnie?” he asked, gently rubbing the blonde’s back.

          “Yeah, it’s really awesome, thank you for getting it for me,” he responded with a large grin across his lips.

          “Of course Minnie, I know it’s what you’ve wanted for a long time,” Kyuhyun said before placing a kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek.

          “Can we take a picture together?” the blonde shyly requested. “We need one if we want to be on the couples’ page of the yearbook.”

          “Sure, here let me see, I’ll take it since my arms can stretch farther,” Kyuhyun replied as he took his boyfriend’s camera and turned the lens to face them. The blonde curled up next to Kyuhyun lovingly, as Kyuhyun wrapped an arm around his waist and took their picture.

          Immediately after, the blonde looked at the photograph on the camera screen and remarked “It’s perfect Kyuhyun.”

          “Just like you,” Kyuhyun added before leaning over to kiss his boyfriend. “I’m gonna go get us some water, will you be okay here for a few minutes?”

          “I’ll be fine,” the blonde nodded before scrolling through the pictures he’d already taken.

          Kyuhyun stood up and walked through the courtyard into the high school to retrieve two bottles of water. As he was returning, he saw four people surrounding his boyfriend, and immediately recognized who they were. Kyuhyun started running towards them and dropped the bottled water before shoving the teenagers away from the blonde, screaming “Get the fuck away from him!” Seeing Kangin holding his camera, Kyuhyun snatched it out of Kangin’s hands, muttering “Leave him alone, or I will fucking kill all of you.”

          “Like you’ve got the balls to do that,” Kangin mocked as he and his friends laughed.

          Kyuhyun glared at them until they finally left, before turning and kneeling down next to the blonde. “Are you alright, did they hurt you?” he whispered, placing his hands on his boyfriend’s face. The blonde nodded before tears spilled from his eyes as he began crying softly. Kyuhyun sat down next to him and wrapped his arms around the blonde, shushing him gently while comforting “It’s okay Minnie, it’s okay, they’re gone now, it’s alright.”

          _*End Flashback*_

          “They messed with you every day, but _he_ was the worst,” Kyuhyun finished. “One day I thought they’d taken you away from me, but here you are. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you as much as I wanted to, but you hated when I got violent in front of you.”

          Listening to Kyuhyun recollect, Sungmin began to feel a small amount of sympathy for his captor. He reached forward and cautiously lay his hand on top of Kyuhyun’s, causing the dark brunette Korean to look at him. “But I’m okay now,” Sungmin muttered.

          Kyuhyun took Sungmin’s face in his hands and kissed his lips again. This time, Sungmin didn’t tense up as much and even kissed back once every few moments. “I will always be here to protect you Minnie,” Kyuhyun whispered before kissing his captive again.

          Later that evening, Donghae grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair once more. The night shift officers had come in to take over, and Kangin had instructed him, Changmin, Siwon, and Seunghyun to go home and sleep that night since they’d been working nonstop for nearly eighteen hours. Before he could leave, the phone at his desk rang. “Detective Lee Donghae, 18th Precinct,” the officer answered.

          “Yes I’m a nurse over at the Gangnam hospital, and patient Lee Hyukjae is requesting to see you,” the nurse explained.

          Donghae’s heart pounded. “Yes, tell him I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he asked before hanging up. Looking up, Donghae saw Changmin still sitting at his temporary desk. “You leaving soon man?” he asked.

          “Yeah in a minute, just want to do one last run through on the footage before declaring in unusable evidence,” Changmin informed. “You gone?”

          “Yeah, headed over to the hospital to see Hyukjae,” Donghae said.

          “Alright, see ya in the morning,” Changmin called as Donghae exited the precinct.

          Donghae opened up the door to Hyukjae’s room and hadn’t even stepped inside yet, before hearing the blonde call his name. “Yes, it’s me Hyukjae,” Donghae confirmed as he walked up next to the bed.

          Hyukjae reached out and took Donghae’s hand before crying “I’m so sorry about earlier. One of the officers told me that your cousin got taken by the same monster who took me, and I didn’t know, I’m so sorry Donghae, I wouldn’t have asked you to stay if I’d known.”

          “Hey, hey,” Donghae gently muttered as he sat down on the bed next to the blonde. “It’s alright, you didn’t know, I just snapped because of the stress and the fact that I haven’t had any rest since he’s gone missing. But I’m so sorry I said what I said to you. You are very important to me Hyukjae.” He sat there and listened to the blonde quietly weep, unaware that they were still tightly holding hands. “How about I stay the night here, would that help? I need the rest anyway.”

          Hyukjae nodded. “Yes, I would very much love that,” he agreed.

          Donghae pulled the hospital room couch over next to Hyukjae’s bed and lie down before whispering “I’m right here Hyukjae, I’m right here.”

          Changmin yawned and rubbed his eyes before looking at the black screen appear at the end of the café footage. He was just about to stand up before noticing the black screen suddenly produce an image, but only a second long. “What the hell?” Changmin muttered to himself. He ran the footage back and watched it happen again; one image popped up for a minute, and then back to black screen. Scrolling back once more, Changmin paused the video on the image and looked at his screen. His jaw dropped as he gasped out “Holy shit.”


	9. Chapter 9

          Sungmin lie curled up on the bed provided for him and stared at the wall, thinking about his predicament. From across the room, Ryeowook sat up in his bed and called quietly, “Sungmin, are you still awake?”

          “Yeah,” Sungmin confirmed. “I can’t sleep.”

          “Me neither, I’m afraid to go to sleep,” Ryeowook whispered. After a moment of silence, Ryeowook asked “Do you think they’ll ever let us go?”

          The blonde sat up and looked towards the other hostage, and replied “I don’t know, I really don’t think so. But honestly I don’t think they have any intention to kill us.”

          “Yesung does keep saying that he wants to keep me safe, and even though he did kidnap me, deep down, I want to believe him, is that crazy?” Ryeowook wondered.

          “Is it crazy to love a psychopath? Probably so,” Sungmin replied.

          “I dated a psychopath, and trust me when I say that I would rather be with Yesung more than my ex-boyfriend,” Ryeowook muttered.

          “What do you mean?” Sungmin asked.

          “Two years ago, I met a guy and he was wonderful at first; he treated me well, he cared for me, and I fell madly in love with him. However, after a couple of months, things began to drastically change. He would come home from work upset and yell abusive things at me, but then immediately apologize and kiss me and tell me he loved me, so I would forgive him. But it kept happening; pretty soon, he started to hit me on an everyday basis, even for little things, and I was so scared of him,” Ryeowook explained as tears welled in his eyes.

          “Why didn’t you run, or ask for help or talk to someone?” Sungmin concerningly inquired.

          “Because I believed that he still loved me, and I was still so in love with him, that I thought that if I could handle it, then he’d stop, but he never did,” Ryeowook continued. “One night he wanted to be intimate, but I was really sleepy and just wanted to go to bed, and that made him so angry, that he, he forced me to be intimate.”

          “He raped you?” Sungmin whispered in a shocked tone.

          Ryeowook nodded as he closed his eyes, allowing tears to roll down his cheeks. “Every night, for seven months he would,” Ryeowook confirmed. “It became so normal; he kept saying that because I wasn’t being a good boyfriend and catering to his sexual needs, that he had the right to take it from me. Hearing his words every day made me believe that I deserved it all. I would do everything I could to keep him happy, but it was never enough. Until one day, he got so angry that he slammed me against the wall and continuously beat me, causing one of our neighbors to call the police, and leading us both to be taken to the station; that’s when I met Yesung, and he was so kind, and protective, and gentle, that I thought, maybe I don’t deserve the life I’m living, maybe there is someone better for me.”

          “What happened afterwards?” Sungmin asked, as he stood up and walked over to Ryeowook’s bed, sitting next to the brunette.

          “Yesterday afternoon, I mustered up the bravery to call Yesung to see if he could help me move away for a while, but my boyfriend found out and he was furious. He started to hit me and I could Yesung screaming my name over the phone, but I hurt so much that I couldn’t respond. Then last night, I was showering when I heard yelling and glass shattering, and when I stepped out of the bathroom, Yesung had my boyfriend down on the ground and was about to kill him, but when he saw me, he stopped, and gently told me to get dressed because he was going to take care of everything. He told me he wanted to take me away from my boyfriend and keep me safe; but what could someone capable of all that destruction possibly want with me, and how will he keep me safe?”

          “Maybe seeing how defenseless you were triggered some kind of protective mode he had,” Sungmin suggested. “And I saw how he looked at you, I really don’t think he wants to hurt you.”

          “I see how the other one looks at you; he looks at you like a predator circling its’ prey,” Ryeowook noted.

          “I know, and Kyuhyun does scare me, yet at the same time, when I do get the courage to look back into his eyes, it’s like his gaze puts me in a trance, almost hypnotic; like I’m in danger, yet also safe,” Sungmin explained.

          “Why does he never call you by your name? I’ve only ever heard him call you ‘Minnie’,” Ryeowook said.

          “All I know is that he had a boyfriend who he called ‘Minnie’, and he thinks I’m him,” Sungmin replied. “But I think as long as I play into his fantasy and let Kyuhyun keep thinking that I am that person, then I have a greater chance of staying alive.” Ryeowook nodded before Sungmin stood up and slowly walked back over to his bed, muttering “I just have to play along.” The blonde lie down and stared at the wall once more, before closing his eyes, drifting off into an uneasy rest.

          Meanwhile, Donghae lie sleeping soundly on the hospital room couch in Hyukjae’s room when his phone began to vibrate loudly against the table near his head. Slowly opening his eyes, Donghae unlaced his hand from Hyukjae’s before reaching for his phone, squinting at the bright screen. “What is it Changmin?” he whispered, so as not to wake Hyukjae.

          “I found something on that surveillance tape you have to see,” Changmin informed. “I’ve already called Siwon and Seunghyun, and they’re on their way back.”

          “Alright, I’ll be there in a minute,” Donghae confirmed before hanging up. He rubbed his tired eyes before standing up and stepping next to Hyukjae’s bed. The blonde still lie fast asleep, so Donghae gently touched his hand and muttered “I’ll be back soon.” He smiled and squeezed Hyukjae’s hand, then quietly walked out of the room.

          Unbeknownst to Donghae, after he left, Hyukjae whispered under his breath “Please stay safe Donghae.”

          “What’d you find?” Donghae questioned as he entered the 18th Precinct’s main area and was handed a cup of coffee by Siwon.

          “Changmin thinks it’s a glitch in the video,” Siwon said.

          “Okay so the camera cuts off at 9:47 pm, and we think that’s it, but as we established earlier, the clock keeps going for an additional twenty minutes. So I continued watching the black screen to see if something would happen, and it did, but it only flashed for a quick second. Check out what pops up onto the screen at 10:06 pm,” Changmin requested. He scrolled the video over to a few seconds before the appropriate time, and once the image popped up, Changmin quickly paused.

          Once Seunghyun, Siwon, and Donghae saw what Changmin saw, their jaws dropped. Displayed on the screen was an image of Sungmin standing right outside the café with someone right beside him. “Oh my god,” Seunghyun muttered. “Is there any way we can clean up the image to get a clearer ID?”

          “Yeah, just one second,” Changmin replied as he quickly typed on the keyboard and clicked the mouse a few times.

          As the image became sharper and more distinct, the four looked carefully at the image before Siwon asked “Isn’t that Kyuhyun, Yesung’s friend who we met the other day?”

          “Yeah it is,” Donghae confirmed.

          “So this guy is the one who took your cousin?” Seunghyun questioned.

          “We don’t know that for sure, this evidence is circumstantial at best,” Donghae reminded. “But at least we know that Kyuhyun was the last person to see Sungmin before he disappeared.”

          “We need to talk to Yesung about this guy, see if he knows or saw anything,” Siwon suggested. “His shift starts in a few hours, but we can at least try to find out if Kyuhyun has a record or not; that should give us some direction for what to search next.”

          When the sun peaked over the horizon, the door to the room that Sungmin and Ryeowook were being kept in swung open, causing both Korean hostages to jolt awake. Yesung slowly walked into the room and over to Ryeowook’s bed, where the brunette was trembling as he gazed up at Yesung. He sat down on the bed next to Ryeowook and reached out to lightly brush his bangs. “I have to go to work today, but while I’m out, I’ll get some things to help you adjust better,” Yesung whispered. He leaned forward and gently kissed Ryeowook’s forehead. “I’ll be back tonight.”

          Ryeowook watched Yesung stand and silently leave the room before closing the door behind him. “Maybe he does care about me,” Ryeowook muttered to himself.

          “Yesung, could you come into my office for a second?” Kangin beckoned once the raven haired IT tech entered the precinct and sat down at his desk.

          “Yes sir,” Yesung agreed as he stood up and entered the captain’s office. Inside, Siwon, Donghae, Changmin, and Seunghyun were waiting. Yesung laughed before asking “What’s going on?”

          “Close the door please Yesung,” Kangin stoically requested.

          After closing the office door, Siwon questioned “What can you tell us about Cho Kyuhyun?”

          “What do you wanna know about Kyuhyun for? He’s just quiet, laidback guy,” Yesung replied.

          “Because we think he may have something to do with Donghae’s cousin getting kidnapped, and if that’s the case, then he may also be responsible for the other kidnappings,” Seunghyun explained.

          “I can’t tell you much about him honestly, I mean we became friends in high school, but –” Yesung started.

          “What high school did you attend Yesung?” Kangin interrupted.

          “Gangnam High School, graduated in ’07,” Yesung informed. “Look I don’t know what you guys are thinking, but there’s not much to say about Kyuhyun, he’s definitely not a kidnapper.”

          “Then how do you explain this?” Siwon questioned as he turned around a laptop to show Yesung the image they’d recently discovered.

          “Why was the Kyuhyun the last person to see Donghae’s cousin before he was taken?” Seunghyun inquired.

          “I don’t know, I don’t keep track of what Kyuhyun does,” Yesung said. “Maybe they were seeing one another.”

          “Where were you two nights ago Yesung?” Donghae slowly asked.

          “I was helping someone leave an abusive relationship,” Yesung responded quietly. “He was terrified and asked me to help him so I was there.”

          “Can anyone verify that?” Changmin added.

          “Why the fuck are you guys questioning me like I’m a suspect or something?” Yesung defensively demanded.

          “We’re just trying to get our bearings straightened out,” Donghae promised.  

          “Can I go now?” Yesung grumbled.

          “Yes, for now,” Kangin confirmed.

          Yesung exited the office in a huff before Seunghyun looked at the others. “He’s knows more, I can see it on his face.”

          “I don’t know, Yesung’s never lied to me before, and I can’t think of any motive for him to lie now,” Donghae replied.

          “Something’s not sitting right with me about him, there’s gotta be more than what he’s letting on,” Siwon agreed.

          “I’ll find out if he’s lying or not,” Seunghyun promised.

          “Let’s be discrete about this, I don’t want the other officers in the precinct becoming paranoid if we cause a scene,” Kangin instructed.

          “Yes sir,” the four responded before they too exited the captain’s office.

          Back in the warehouse, Sungmin and Ryeowook were startled when Kyuhyun suddenly opened the door to their room. Ryeowook pulled his knees to his chest while Sungmin kept his eyes glued on Kyuhyun. The dark brunette captor was muttering to himself under his breath “Leaves me to watch after his thing while I should be spending time with my Minnie.” Looking over at Ryeowook, Kyuhyun said “I don’t know why Yesung wants you in the first place, fucking idiot.”

          “Don’t talk about him like that,” Ryeowook suddenly spat. The room fell silent as Ryeowook covered his mouth, and Sungmin’s jaw dropped. Ryeowook didn’t know where or why he thought that was a good thing to say, but sudden impulses made him.

          Kyuhyun took several steps closer and growled “What the fuck did you say to me?” Now Ryeowook was frozen, fearful he had just sealed his demise with that last statement. The look in Kyuhyun’s eyes was the same that his boyfriend had had right before he’d hurt him; seeing this again caused Ryeowook instinctively to cry. “You think he cares about you? You think he loves you? Yesung just pities you because you can’t take care of yourself you little bitch. He likes that you’re easy to control because you’ve been broken in, and once he’s through with you, I’ll happily discard you like I did with the others.” Hearing the venomous words spit from Kyuhyun’s mouth only caused Ryeowook to cry even harder. The dark brunette Korean backhanded Ryeowook across the face, sending him down on the bed. “Oh shut the fuck up, all you do is cry. How about I give you something to really cry about?” Kyuhyun climbed on top of his captive began ripping at Ryeowook’s clothing, hearing the brunette scream in fear. He grabbed Ryeowook by the throat and muttered lowly “You’re used to being dominated, so what’s different now?”

          As he continued tearing at the brunette’s clothing, Sungmin swallowed and called “Kyuhyun.” Immediately, the dark brunette Korean paused and craned his head to face the blonde. Slowly, Sungmin asked “D-don’t you wanna be with me instead?” Sungmin was hiding back tears as Kyuhyun stood up and locked eyes with him.

          Kyuhyun grabbed Ryeowook by the arm and shoved him into a closet, demanding “Make a sound, and I’ll cut your tongue out.” Ryeowook pulled his knees to his chest as he sat there in the darkness, covering his ears with his hands.

          Kyuhyun sat down next to Sungmin and took the blonde’s face in his hands as Sungmin nervously repeated “Don’t you want me?”

          “Of course I do Minnie,” Kyuhyun confirmed as he pressed their heads together. “Are you ready?”

          Sungmin internally screamed no; he was not at all ready for what was about to happen to him, but then he thought of Ryeowook and forced himself to nod. “Please be gentle,” he requested.

          “Of course baby, I would never hurt you,” Kyuhyun whispered before attaching his mouth to the side of Sungmin’s neck, kissing and sucking at the skin gently. Sungmin began to pant, mostly in fear, but a little in involuntary arousal.

          Kyuhyun pulled off Sungmin’s shirt, along with his own before lying the blonde down on the bed, Sungmin not fighting back as he laid there perfectly still and looked up at the ceiling. The dark brunette Korean kissed all around Sungmin’s stomach as he unfastened Sungmin’s jeans and slid them off. The blonde felt Kyuhyun trail his fingers up and down his legs as he kissed Sungmin’s inner thighs. Compulsorily, Sungmin let out a moan and slightly arched his back at the feeling of Kyuhyun’s lips near his erogenous zone. He heard Kyuhyun laugh quietly and mutter “I’ve missed that sound.” Kyuhyun then pulled down Sungmin’s boxers, leaving the blonde’s entire figure exposed to his captor.

          Crawling up Sungmin’s body, Kyuhyun unbuttoned and removed his own jeans and boxers before gazing down at Sungmin. He grazed his lips over Sungmin’s neck, licking over one of the pulsing veins. Kyuhyun felt Sungmin tremble underneath him and saw a tear sliding out of his eye, so he whispered “It’s alright Minnie, I still remember how you like it, slow and gentle. I’ll make sure you’re comfortable.”

          As he said this, Kyuhyun snaked one of his hands down Sungmin’s body, past his chest and stomach, down to lightly brush over the blonde’s member. Sungmin’s heart pounded rapidly, before he gasped as he felt something enter his body and move around. He began to reluctantly moan as the waves of pleasure washed over him. Kyuhyun quietly shushed Sungmin, kissing his lips, muttering “I’m just preparing you Minnie; I want you relaxed.”

          Suddenly, another digit entered Sungmin, forcing the blonde to thrust his hips and moan again. Sungmin momentarily forgot that he was being violated by his kidnapper, and instead all he could think about was this guy giving him the best feeling he’d ever experienced. He continued to rhythmically move with Kyuhyun before feeling something warm begin to drip down his thighs. “I think you’re ready now,” Kyuhyun breathed as he removed his fingers from inside Sungmin.

          The blonde caught his breath as looked down in horror to see that the ordeal had caused him to orgasm all over his thighs, and even a little on Kyuhyun’s stomach. “Don’t worry Minnie, I’ll clean you up later,” Kyuhyun promised as he took the blonde’s face in his hands and kissed his lips. Slipping his hands down Sungmin’s body, Kyuhyun spread Sungmin’s legs open and positioned himself. Closing his eyes, Sungmin told himself not to moan or show signs of enjoying what was happening, but his body betrayed him, because as soon as Kyuhyun penetrated him, Sungmin unwillingly arched his back and moaned loudly. As Kyuhyun continued to push in and out of Sungmin while simultaneously kissing his neck, Sungmin stared at the ceiling and felt tears leak from his eyes and involuntary moans emit from his throat each time Kyuhyun reentered him. This stranger, this violent yet gentle stranger, was taking his virginity; not at all how Sungmin had expected it to go. When Kyuhyun had finished and released inside the blonde, Sungmin wanted to take a sigh of relief, thinking it was almost over. Kyuhyun panted to catch his breath, and kissed Sungmin’s chest before brushing a hand through his blonde bangs, whispering “You really are my Minnie.” He pressed another kiss to Sungmin’s lips, before adding “I’ll go get a shower started so I can clean you up.” Standing up, Kyuhyun redressed before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

          Sungmin lie there on his back motionless, feeling all his emotions come up in his throat as he began to sob loudly, wrapping his brain around what had just happened to him. Quietly, Ryeowook opened the door to the closet and stepped out, rushing over to Sungmin and covering him with the sheets. “Oh my god Sungmin, why did you let him do that to you?” Ryeowook questioned, helping the other captive sit up.

          “Because I knew he’d be gentle with me,” Sungmin replied. “He would more than likely be rough with you, and after hearing what you’ve already suffered, I didn’t want him to break you.”

          Ryeowook was silent for a minute before saying “I could never thank you enough or repay you for what you did, and I’m so sorry.”

          “It’s alright, I feel terrible though, because I didn’t want it, but it’s my body thought different. Even though he was gentle and made me feel things I’ve never felt before, I still wasn’t ready,” Sungmin lamented.

          As Ryeowook tried to comfort Sungmin, Kyuhyun reentered the room and glared at Ryeowook. The brunette instinctively scurried over to his bed on the other side of the room as Kyuhyun stood next to Sungmin, causing the blonde to pull the sheets tighter around his naked form. “Your shower’s ready Minnie,” Kyuhyun informed as he scooped the blonde up in his arms and carried him out of the room, while Ryeowook noticed the nervous expression on Sungmin’s face.

          After Sungmin was set down in the bathroom, he looked at Kyuhyun and forced a smile across his lips as he requested “I can do this by myself Kyuhyun; but can Ryeowook and I please have something to eat?”

          “Yes, you shower, and I’ll make some food,” Kyuhyun responded before chastely kissing Sungmin’s forehead. He took the sheet that was wrapped around Sungmin and added with a smirk “I’ll go ahead and get you some fresh ones, since we ruined the others.” As soon as Kyuhyun closed the door, Sungmin locked it and stepped into the shower, and scrubbed his body hard, trying to cleanse himself of what had just occurred. After scrubbing for a few minutes, the blonde gave up and crouched in the corner as he cried, feeling the warm water wash over him, but unable to help him feel truly clean.  

          At the precinct, Yesung watched from his area as the four detectives returned to their desks and began to search for Kyuhyun’s file. “I can’t find anything in the data base on him,” Changmin informed as ‘File Not Found’ flashed across the screen.

          “Are we sure he even has a record?” Donghae asked.

          “The captain said he had a past juvenile record, so he’s still gotta be in the system somewhere,” Siwon reminded. “Maybe we can check and see if there’s a physical record.”

          Yesung discretely grinned as he watched the detectives search for the file, but not find it anywhere. “Okay now this is getting suspicious,” Changmin said as he opened his desk drawer and pulled out a sleeve of Oreos. “I need to think for a minute.”

          “While he has his moment, we can at least pull up Yesung’s file, maybe something useful will come of it,” Siwon quietly suggested.

          Going over to the computer, Siwon and Seunghyun began to search the data base for Yesung’s record, before pulling it up. “Okay, it looks like there’s nothing here that indicates he has any criminal history,” Seunghyun noticed.

          “Well he shouldn’t, all personnel hired in the precinct must have a clean background,” Donghae reminded.

          “Now if only we can look at Kyuhyun’s file, we can determine whether or not to make him a solid suspect,” Siwon replied.

          “What time does Yesung’s shift end?” Seunghyun wondered.

          “Like around seven,” Donghae figured. “Why?”

          “He’s gonna do his own recon, right?” Changmin guessed.

          “That’s right dude, just like with some of the other cases,” Seunghyun confirmed.  

          “What are you talking about?” Siwon questioned.

          “When Yesung leaves tonight, I’m gonna go through his stuff to see if he’s hiding anything?”

          “Are you fucking crazy? The captain will have your neck for invading privacy of a fellow officer,” Siwon reminded.

          “Do you wanna catch this guy or not?” Seunghyun asked.

          “Yes,” Donghae immediately stated. “I trust Yesung, but if you think it’s necessary to bring back Sungmin, do what you must.”

          “Any breakthroughs yet?” Seunghyun inquired, looking towards Changmin, who was looking at the whiteboard with their current clues.

          “I just noticed something,” Changmin realized. He stood up and pointed at the victims. “Each of their bodies was missing for a day and then found in a separate location; Sungmin’s body has yet to be found, meaning that our killer is breaking pattern. I think whoever kidnapped Sungmin doesn’t plan on killing him. Killers don’t just break patterns for no reason,” Changmin explained. “Plus look at what Hyukjae said, the suspect called him ‘Minnie’ the entire time, and look at Sungmin’s name, it’s a match to someone who could have that nickname.”

          “He was called that a lot when we were kids,” Donghae remembered before gasping and covering his mouth. “Oh my god, why didn’t I catch that?”

          “So you think our suspect’s goal was to get Sungmin, why?” Siwon questioned.

          “That’s what I can’t piece together. If Kyuhyun did take Sungmin like we speculate, then his background might reveal the link we’re looking for,” Changmin stated.

          “But why Sungmin? Kyuhyun had never met him before the other day,” Donghae said.

          “Could be a potential stalking,” Siwon suggested. “We’ve seen instances like that before, perp has a kind he likes, and goes after the ones who fit his criteria.”

          “I feel like there’s more than that that we’re not getting,” Changmin muttered as the four stared at the whiteboard. Turning to Donghae, Changmin asked “You’re sure Sungmin couldn’t have gone to school with him?”

          “Well the captain said that he attended high school with Kyuhyun at Gangnam High School, Sungmin went to high school in Incheon,” Donghae informed.

          “Okay so it’s not a long time high school crush,” Changmin said.

          “Looks like we’ll have to wait til Yesung leaves before we see if he’s got any information hidden,” Seunghyun figured.

          That evening after Yesung’s shift ended, the raven haired Korean exited the precinct casually before Siwon asked “Now?”

          “No, there’s still others here, and the captain wants us to be discrete,” Seunghyun reminded. “I’ll stay late and check it out after everyone leaves.”

          Once Yesung arrived back at the warehouse, he called out “Hey I’m back, and I stopped and got some more food.”

          Kyuhyun appeared and said “Anything weird happen today?”

          “They’re starting to get suspicious of us. There was a glitch on the video feed at the café, and they have an image of you talking to him,” Yesung explained.

          Kyuhyun’s eyes widened. “You said you had it taken care of,” he growled.

          “I do, and it’s not enough evidence or proof that you had anything to do with the disappearance, circumstantial at best,” Yesung promised. “I’m gonna go check on Ryeowook.”

          “Yeah I’ll do the same with Minnie,” Kyuhyun agreed as the two headed over to the room that held their captives.

          Opening the door, Yesung walked in first, noticing Sungmin curled up in the fetal position on his bed, while Ryeowook nervously sat on his own bed. Upon seeing Yesung, Ryeowook’s heart jumped a little. The raven haired Korean walked over to Ryeowook’s bed and sat down before pressing his forehead to the brunette’s and placing a hand on his face gently. “I missed you today,” he whispered.

          “I wish you had stayed here today,” Ryeowook muttered.

          Gazing at Ryeowook, Yesung noticed a bruise on his face that was not there when he left that morning. “What happened to your face?” he gently asked.

          Ryeowook felt Kyuhyun’s angry glare on him, almost daring him to tell Yesung what happened; but Ryeowook was used to playing this game, so he whispered “Nothing, I accidentally fell earlier.”

          “Are you alright?” Yesung inquired, placing both his hands gently on Ryeowook’s face. Ryeowook locked eyes with Yesung, and saw a calm peacefulness in his captor’s eyes.

          Reaching a hand up slowly, Ryeowook took Yesung’s sleeve in his grasp, mumbling “I am now that you’re here.” Yesung sweetly kissed Ryeowook’s bruised face, while the brunette leaned closer to the gentle touch.

          Back at the precinct, all other officers had headed out for the night, and only Seunghyun remained. He slipped over to Yesung’s desk and began to look through the two top drawers of his desk, finding nothing of interest. When he reached the bottom drawer, Seunghyun found it locked shut. “What could you be hiding there?” he muttered under his breath. He pulled out his pocket knife and began to work at the drawer; after a few minutes, he was about to give up when it popped open. Seunghyun’s heart pounded as he slid the drawer ajar; unbeknownst to him, a small red dot began flashing on the underside of the drawer.

          While continuing to kiss Ryeowook’s face, Yesung heard a continuous beeping from the main room. Knowing what it might possibly be, he looked at Ryeowook and whispered “I’ll be right back.” He kissed his forehead again before standing up and motioning for Kyuhyun to follow him. After Kyuhyun placed a kiss on the still traumatized Sungmin, he followed Yesung.

          “What’s that sound?” Kyuhyun questioned.

          “I put an alarm on my desk drawer at work that lets me know when someone tries to break in,” Yesung informed as he grabbed his tablet and touched the screen. It then produced a live video of Seunghyun going through Yesung’s drawer, pulling out several manila folders that had been locked away.

          “Can you fix our problem?” Kyuhyun inquired.

          “Oh yeah,” Yesung agreed, not taking his eyes off the screen. “He wants to play dirty, I can play dirty back.”


	10. Chapter 10

          Later that night, inside Sungmin and Ryeowook’s room, Ryeowook lie asleep in his bed, but began to pant as his mind started to produce nightmarish images.

          _*Ryeowook’s nightmare*_

          The brunette looked around and found he was tied up to the bed, but Sungmin wasn’t across the room as usual; he was alone. Pulling against the restraints, Ryeowook tried to free himself, but the rope burned against his wrists. Before he could call out to anyone, the door swung open to reveal Kyuhyun to Ryeowook, only now Kyuhyun’s eyes were darker, and an evil smile was displayed across his face as Kyuhyun slowly walked across the room. Seeing his captor, Ryeowook began frantically yanking against the headrail again, all while watching Kyuhyun get closer and closer to him. Once Kyuhyun was at the end of the bed, Ryeowook managed to get his wrists freed, but froze once Kyuhyun’s hand grabbed his wrists, keeping them in their place. Terrified, Ryeowook looked up and saw Kyuhyun hovering over him, licking over his lower lip. “You’re not going anywhere,” Kyuhyun growled in an almost demonic voice.

          Tears leaked from Ryeowook’s eyes as Kyuhyun shushed him, running his other hand along Ryeowook’s throat. “Please, I want Yesung,” Ryeowook begged.

          Kyuhyun craned his neck to the side, before Ryeowook reluctantly followed his gaze. The brunette’s heart pounded as he saw Yesung lying on the ground with a giant wound in his side, resulting in a pool of blood forming underneath him. Ryeowook gasped and cried harder, pleading for Yesung to wake up, but to no avail. Turning his head to look back up at Kyuhyun, Ryeowook’s eyes widened in horror, feeling the breath be ripped from his lungs as he saw that the face was no longer Kyuhyun’s, but his boyfriend’s; the same evil smile and dark eyes were present. “He can’t save you now,” he muttered. Ryeowook closed his eyes and began screaming.

          _*End nightmare*_

          Sungmin jolted upwards in his bed and saw Ryeowook thrashing about on his bed, pushing something imaginary off of him while yelling. “Ryeowook!” he called, but the brunette didn’t respond.

          Suddenly, the door to the room flew open, and in rushed Yesung. He ran over to Ryeowook’s bed and sat down next to him, grabbing his shoulders and shouting “Ryeowook, Ryeowook wake up!” The brunette’s eyes shot open as he gasped for breath, panting and shaking. Gazing up at Yesung, a flood of tears spilled from his eyes as he leaned against Yesung and sobbed. Yesung placed a hand on Ryeowook’s back, shushing him gently, whispering “It’s alright now. What happened?”

          “I –” Ryeowook started before turning to see Kyuhyun enter the room. Ryeowook violently shook and grabbed ahold of Yesung, crying “No, please no, please don’t!”

          Yesung shushed Ryeowook’s hysteria again, before turning to Kyuhyun. “I’m gonna stay with him tonight,” he decided.

          “Fine,” Kyuhyun replied. The dark brunette turned towards Sungmin, and said “Minnie will stay with me in our room tonight.” He picked up Sungmin and carried him out of the room, closing the door behind him.

          Yesung settled onto the bed next to Ryeowook, who curled into the fetal position and resting his head against Yesung’s chest. “Did you have a nightmare?” Yesung asked.

          Ryeowook nodded. “It was scary, you were dead, and I wasn’t safe,” he explained through his sobs.

          Yesung stroked Ryeowook’s hair and shushed him softly, promising “Everything’s alright, I’ve got you, there’s no need to be afraid.”

          “Don’t leave me alone tonight, please Yesung,” Ryeowook requested, glancing up at his captor.

          “I’m not, I’m right here,” Yesung responded.

          Slowly, they lie down on Ryeowook’s bed, Ryeowook leaning close to Yesung, while the raven haired Korean continued stroking his fingertips through his captive’s hair. He pressed a light kiss to the side of Ryeowook’s head as the brunette closed his eyes. Yesung looked Ryeowook up and down and noticed something peculiar; his shirt had pulled up a little, exposing a small patch of skin on Ryeowook’s stomach, revealing a scar. Curious, Yesung carefully slid Ryeowook’s shirt up to his bellybutton, uncovering more small scars littering Ryeowook’s lower stomach and pelvic area. Reaching his hand out, Yesung brushed his fingers over the healing ailments, causing Ryeowook to gasp as he opened his eyes. Yesung immediately retracted his hand, before Ryeowook muttered “I’m sorry, I’m really sensitive there.”

          Yesung was quiet for a minute as he examined the multiple scars plaguing Ryeowook’s skin, before asking “Did _he_ do this to you?”

          “Yes,” Ryeowook breathed out after a few seconds of hesitation. “The first time was when I told him I wanted to leave. He pinned me down, took his knife, and –” The brunette paused a moment to take a breath, before feeling Yesung kiss his cheek. “He said, ‘no one ever wants damaged goods’, so he was going to make sure he scarred me so that I’d be ashamed to undress in front of anyone again. He said, ‘I’ll make your body so disgusting to look at, that I will be the only one who will ever want you’.”

          Hearing Ryeowook recall his abuse made Yesung grit his teeth as anger built up more inside him. “He will never do that to you again,” Yesung promised, eyes glued on Ryeowook’s ailments.

          The raven haired Korean sat up and moved around so that he was kneeling down in between Ryeowook’s legs, hands resting on the bottom hem of Ryeowook’s shirt. He began to push the garment up more, before Ryeowook sat up and stopped him, grabbing his wrists. The two looked at one another, as more tears welled in Ryeowook’s eyes. Reaching forward, Yesung gently placed his hand on Ryeowook’s face and stroked his cheek, whispering “I’m not gonna hurt you, I would never hurt you like he did.”

          Ryeowook lifted one of his shaky hands to place on Yesung’s face and replied “I know you wouldn’t.”

          The brunette slowly lie down once more on his back and allowed Yesung to push his t-shirt up to his ribs. Yesung’s mouth almost dropped as he saw the numerous scars afflicting Ryeowook’s skin. There were so many, that Yesung couldn’t count them; long scars, short scars, they seemed to go on. Yesung could feel tears stinging his own eyes at the thought of that bastard boyfriend marring Ryeowook’s body like this. Without thinking, Yesung bent down and placed a kiss on one of the scars, causing Ryeowook to instinctively suck in his stomach. The two looked at one another before Ryeowook slowly nodded and seemed to relax as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Yesung then began to kiss all around Ryeowook’s stomach area, leaving no scar unkissed, hearing Ryeowook lightly moan as he brushed his lips over the brunette’s pelvic region, feeling Ryeowook’s skin press closer to him as Ryeowook instinctively arched his back. “You are so beautiful,” Yesung whispered, kissing around Ryeowook’s bellybutton.

          It was with those words and actions that caused something in Ryeowook’s mind to snap and no longer see Yesung as a kidnapper, but as a rescuer, just as Yesung had wanted. The raven haired Korean lowered Ryeowook’s shirt and lie down next to him, wrapping his arms around the distressed brunette. “I believe you,” Ryeowook muttered, leaning his head against Yesung’s chest. “I believe you when you said you wanna keep me safe.” Hearing that, Yesung tilted Ryeowook’s head up to his, and gently took his face in his hands before pressing a loving kiss to his lips. Ryeowook gripped Yesung’s shirt sleeve as he closed his eyes tight and felt Yesung pull him closer.

          Meanwhile, Sungmin lie curled up on a bed in the other room, trembling as he heard the dark brunette Korean’s footsteps grow closer. Sungmin felt the bed adjust slightly as Kyuhyun lie next to him. “Minnie, what’s wrong? You’ve been quiet all day,” Kyuhyun wondered.      

          Sungmin winced as Kyuhyun rested his hand on the blonde’s shoulder. “I, I just haven’t been able to sleep well,” Sungmin lied, not wanting to tell Kyuhyun he had been thinking about the sex forced upon him earlier that day.

          “I remember nights when you couldn’t sleep because you were so scared to go to school the next day, that you’d ask me to come over and stay the night with you,” Kyuhyun recollected. “Do you remember how I’d help you fall asleep?”

          Sungmin swallowed nervously before responding “Yes.”

          Leaning down, Kyuhyun pressed a kiss to the blonde’s temple, before whispering in his ear, “Don’t worry Minnie, I’ll take care of you.” Kyuhyun then slid his hand underneath Sungmin’s shirt, touching his skin before he began to lightly scrap his fingernails along Sungmin’s back, causing goosebumps and a sense of relaxation to envelope the blonde. He closed his eyes and quietly moaned, feeling Kyuhyun’s fingertips gently trail up his spine, around his back, and even grazing over his shoulder blades, while the dark brunette Korean simultaneously kissed his shoulder and neck. The technique was in fact calming, and Sungmin soon found he could no longer keep his eyes open. As he drifted off, Sungmin heard Kyuhyun repeat “I’ll take care of you Minnie.”

          A few hours later, Yesung opened his eyes and found Ryeowook still wrapped tightly in his arms, inhaling and exhaling softly. Smiling down at the brunette, Yesung lightly stroked his fingertips over Ryeowook’s bangs and kissed his forehead before standing up, leaving Ryeowook to sleep by himself. Yawning, Yesung walked across the warehouse to the other room, and found Kyuhyun still lying in bed next to Sungmin, holding him close. “Kyuhyun,” he whispered.

          The dark brunette Korean opened his eyes and groaned as he craned his neck to look at his friend. “What is it?” he muttered.

          “I’m about to head to work,” Yesung informed.

          “Wait out there for a minute,” Kyuhyun requested. Yesung nodded before leaving the room. Kyuhyun turned back to look at Sungmin, still sleeping peacefully. He pressed his lips to Sungmin’s neck as he rubbed his back for a moment, whispering “I’ll be right back Minnie.” Kyuhyun then climbed out of bed and joined Yesung in the main area. “How are you going to handle our situation, and get those fucking detectives off our back?”

          Yesung flashed a grin across his face before responding “By dividing them.”

          Kyuhyun raised his eyebrows, intrigued by Yesung’s answer. “I’m interested to see where this is going,” he said.

          “Trust me dude, by the end of the day, their team will be disbanded,” Yesung replied.

          “That’s what I like to hear,” Kyuhyun agreed as a smile formed across his lips.

          About an hour later, Yesung walked into the precinct earlier than usual, at a time when only a few people from nightshift were still there handling miscellaneous paperwork. Yesung slid his backpack off and sat down at his desk before looking down and sliding the bottom drawer open on his desk. He sighed when he saw all the files inside were gone, but looked around to make sure no one was looking before he quietly unzipped his backpack. Yesung then retrieved a small plastic baggie from inside the bag and glanced around a second time. Luckily for him, no one was paying any bit of attention to him, so Yesung slowly made his way over to Seunghyun’s temporary desk and opened up one of the drawers, placing the baggie inside. Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind of how to sink the detectives lower. Yesung then snuck into Kangin’s office and took Leeteuk’s wedding ring out of the box on the Captain’s desk before closing the small box. He then slipped it into the drawer next to the baggie before sliding the drawer back, muttering “That’ll teach you to fuck with me.”

          A few hours later, Siwon, Donghae, and Changmin walked in collectively. Yesung glanced up from his computer as he discreetly smirked, waiting for Seunghyun to arrive so his scheme could take off. It wasn’t too long after that Seunghyun did in fact rush into the precinct, carrying the manila folders. “You guys are not gonna believe what I found,” he said.

          “Where did you get those?” Donghae asked.

          Seunghyun was silent, but his eyes motioned towards Yesung’s desk. “You actually went through his fucking desk?” Siwon whispered in a shocked tone.

          “Yeah, and there’s a lot more to the puzzle than we originally thought,” Seunghyun informed in a quiet voice. “I was up most of the night going through these, and I found –”

          Before Seunghyun could continue, Kangin emerged from his office and asked loudly “Has anyone seen my husband’s wedding ring? It’s missing.”

          The detectives, along with everyone else in the precinct seemed confused and shocked because they knew that touching that ring was strictly prohibited, as it was the very sentimental to the Captain. Everyone in the precinct began to look under their desks, in the drawers; Yesung played along, even though he knew exactly where it was. Siwon, Changmin, Donghae, and Seunghyun looked around their work area before scouring through their desks. Seunghyun opened up his desk drawer and felt the breath be yanked out of him as his eyes widened. Donghae saw Seunghyun’s reaction before he, Changmin, and Siwon looked down into their fellow officer’s drawer. There, they saw not only Leeteuk’s wedding ring, but the small baggie that Yesung had planted. Siwon pulled out both items before silently holding them up. “Tell me this isn’t what I think it is,” Siwon pleaded, looking right at Seunghyun.

          “I swear to God, I have no idea,” Seunghyun replied, trying to reassure Siwon and the others.

          This caused Kangin to walk over to the four and see the ring in Siwon’s hand. “Where was it?” he firmly demanded, taking the golden band from the detective.

          Licking his lips nervously, Seunghyun quickly said “It was in my desk, but sir I promise –”

          “And what the fuck is this?” Kangin continued, snatching the baggie from Siwon’s grasp. Kangin immediately recognized it as the aroma from the baggie hit his nose. Angrily, Kangin growled “Why the fuck did you bring marijuana into my precinct, and why was my husband’s ring in your desk?”

          “Captain, that is not mine, someone must’ve –” Seunghyun started, before looking over and seeing an evil grin inconspicuously appear on Yesung’s lips. “You son of a bitch!” Seunghyun yelled as he lunged towards Yesung, before Siwon and Changmin held him back and Donghae blocked him from hitting his friend. “You did this! You planted drugs on me, because you know I caught onto your little secret!”

          “I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Yesung innocently declined.

          “Don’t you fucking lie!” Seunghyun continued.

          “Enough!” Kangin firmly stated, causing the precinct to fall dead silent. Taking a few deep breaths, Kangin said in a calmer tone, “Until we reach the bottom of this, I have no choice but to suspend you on drug possession and alleged theft. I’m sorry Seunghyun, but you are now off the case pending the results of your investigation.”

          “Investigation? Captain, Seunghyun would never do anything like this. I’ve worked with him for five years, and he –” Changmin defended.

          “I said enough Changmin,” Kangin snapped, causing the officer to quickly shut his mouth. Turning back to Seunghyun, Kangin continued “Go home, and expect a call from Internal Affairs soon.”

          “Yes sir,” Seunghyun begrudgingly agreed. He glared over at Yesung, who was still acting shocked, but he knew, he knew it was all a front. Turning to Siwon, Donghae, and Changmin, he quietly requested “Meet me at my apartment after the shift is over, there’s something I’ve gotta show you guys.” The raven haired officer turned and angrily left the precinct as an evil grin grew back across Yesung’s lips.

          Back at the warehouse, Ryeowook and Sungmin had both woken up, and Sungmin had returned to their shared room while Kyuhyun prepared them a meal. “What happened last night? You were screaming and flailing everywhere, I thought for a minute you were having a seizure,” Sungmin wondered.

          “I was having a night terror,” Ryeowook revealed. “It felt so real, because I thought I was going to be raped again.”

          “By your ex?” Sungmin asked.

          “Y-yeah,” Ryeowook quietly agreed. “But Yesung comforted me, and made me feel so much better. Sungmin, I’m not afraid of him anymore; he’s so gentle and loving, and he makes me feel safe.”

          “Did he –” Sungmin began, indicating intimacy.

          “No, he just kissed me is all, but I don’t know, there’s just something about him, something about his words and the way he touches me, it makes me wanna stay with him,” Ryeowook slowly explained, lightly rubbing his hand across his stomach.

          “Ryeowook, he kidnapped you, from what you told me he possibly murdered someone,” Sungmin reminded.

          “But he cares about me,” Ryeowook defended.

          Before the two could continue, Kyuhyun entered the room, holding two bowls in his hands. He handed one to Sungmin before looking over at Ryeowook. Kyuhyun’s dark eyes made Ryeowook swallow roughly, remembering his nightmare. The dark brunette Korean walked over to the closet and opened the door before setting the bowl inside. “You want food, get in there and fucking get it,” Kyuhyun said. Ryeowook slowly stood up and stepped towards the closet before Kyuhyun harshly shoved him in and slammed the door. “You stay in there until I leave,” he ordered.

          Kyuhyun then sat down on the bed next to Sungmin and watched the blonde eat. He reached his hand out and brushed Sungmin’s bangs out of his eyes before Sungmin caught a glimpse of his wrist. Focusing on it for the first time, Sungmin asked “Why do you have a spider on your arm?”

          Looking down at the black tattoo on his wrist, Kyuhyun responded “I got it to remind me of you Minnie, to remind me of what I did for you after _he_ took you from me.”

          Nervously, Sungmin whispered “Kyuhyun, what did you do?”

          Keeping his eyes locked on his tattoo, Kyuhyun muttered “I killed them.”

          “Y-you what?” Sungmin inquired. “Kyuhyun why would you –”

          “Because they fucking deserved it!” the dark brunette Korean screamed as he shot up from the bed, making Sungmin flinch. He paced the room as tears began to form in his eyes and he choked out “After what those fuckers did to you, they deserved to die Minnie. They hurt you, and the police never did a goddamn thing about it! So I had to take matters into my own hands; and Yesung was furious as well, so he helped. Minnie, I’m so sorry that they hurt you like that, I’m sorry I didn’t protect you, but I made sure they suffered, and then I got this to remind me every day to fight for you, to remind me of what lengths I went to because of how much I love you.”

          Kyuhyun then collapsed on his knees next to Sungmin’s bed as he buried his face in his arms and let tears spill from his eyes. Hearing Kyuhyun recollect this memory made Sungmin begin to understand a little more now of what was going on. Setting his bowl down, Sungmin cautiously moved closer to Kyuhyun and lightly rested his hand on top of his captor’s dark brunette hair, stroking his fingers back and forth. Kyuhyun raised his head to look at Sungmin and the blonde saw large tears rolling down his face, tugging at Sungmin’s sympathetic heartstrings. Placing his hands on Kyuhyun’s face, Sungmin whispered “You don’t have to hurt yourself or anyone else ever again, because I’m here now.” The blonde felt Kyuhyun climb back onto the bed next to him and wrap his arms around his body, kissing his neck gently. Sungmin stroked the back of Kyuhyun’s head, and felt tears drip onto his shirt as he added “Minnie’s right here Kyuhyun.”

          All through their shift that day, Siwon, Donghae, and Changmin couldn’t focus, still distracted by what had happened earlier. Things only seemed to get worse for them when Kangin walked out of his office and up to the remaining three. “I just got off the phone with the Captain of the 16th precinct, and he’s requesting that Seunghyun and Changmin be transferred back until Seunghyun’s investigation is cleared up,” Kangin explained.

          “Captain, we’re in the middle of this case, we’ve almost made a breakthrough,” Donghae said. “And Changmin had nothing to do with the allegations.”

          “Donghae, I understand that,” Kangin replied. “That’s why I told him that Detective Changmin has been an asset to the case and shouldn’t be punished for his partner’s transgressions. The Captain agreed to let Changmin finish up the case here, but then return back once it’s closed.”

          Changmin looked at Donghae. “At least it’s something,” he reminded.

          After their shifts ended, the three travelled over to Seunghyun’s apartment together. Inside, they found their fellow officer on his couch, files opened and splayed out all across the coffee table. “Still doing your own investigation?” Siwon asked as they closed the door behind them.

          “Yeah, I’ve been going over what I found,” Seunghyun confirmed. “Look guys, I’m sorry about what happened today. But I had nothing –”

          “You don’t have to explain, we believe you were framed,” Siwon promised, as Donghae and Changmin nodded in agreement. “The question that remains, is why?”

          “Why would Yesung do something like that? He’s always been so quiet and reserved, it doesn’t make any sense,” Donghae said.

          “The answer has to be somewhere in these files that he hid. There’s gotta be something in here that connects it all,” Seunghyun figured.

          “How many files were in his desk?” Changmin wondered.

          “I was only expecting to maybe find one or two, but he had five locked away,” Seunghyun revealed.

          “Five?” Donghae repeated in a shocked tone.

          “Yeah, one belongs to Cho Kyuhyun, which I could’ve already guessed,” Seunghyun said, holding up one of the files.

          “Find anything interesting on him?” Siwon asked as he took the file and began to rummage through the papers.

          “Oh yeah, it says that after his sophomore year of high school, he was sent to a juvenile center for troubled youths for two years,” Seunghyun informed.

          “Cause of admission; depression and fits of severe violence,” Siwon read. Looking up, Siwon stated “Guys, Kyuhyun had to have been the one to take Sungmin, I mean his history coincides with the violent M.O.”

          “But it still doesn’t explain why he took Sungmin, or what caused all the anger,” Changmin reminded.

          “We need to delve deeper into this, if need be we can stay up all night until we figure it out,” Donghae replied. They all sat down around the coffee table as Donghae inquired “What were the names on the other files you found?”

          “These three were bundled together,” Seunghyun responded, picking up three of the manila folder bound together with a rubber band.

          Taking the files, Donghae read the names off, “Choi Hyung-wan, Park Sang-hyuk, and Lee Seung-chul. Why would Yesung wanna hide these three files?”

          “I don’t know, but the answer has to be in it,” Changmin guessed as he too picked up a file.

          “This last one, he had hidden way down in his drawer,” Seunghyun informed as he picked up the final manila folder. “I think this one was special to him.”

          “What’s that one?” Siwon questioned.

          “The record belongs to someone named Kim Jong-woon,” Seunghyun stated.


	11. Chapter 11

          Yesung entered the warehouse, having returned from his shift at the precinct, before calling out “Kyuhyun.”

          The dark brunette Korean appeared from the room where Sungmin and Ryeowook were being kept and asked “What?”

          “The plan worked,” Yesung informed.

          A smile grew across Kyuhyun’s face. “Really?” he wondered. “They actually bought it? They must be stupider than we originally thought.”

          Looking over at the room, Yesung inquired “Have they eaten yet?”

          “They did eat lunch, but not dinner yet,” Kyuhyun stated. “I’m gonna start on something for them now.”

          “Sounds good,” Yesung agreed before setting his bag down on the table. Yesung then walked into the next room and saw Sungmin on his bed, but Ryeowook was nowhere to be found. “Ryeowook?” he called, looking around for the brunette. Yesung heard quiet sobs coming from the closet and slowly opened the door to discover Ryeowook hiding inside, legs pulled up to his chest. “Ryeowook, what are you doing in here?” Yesung gently asked as he knelt down. Brushing the brunette bangs out of Ryeowook’s face, Yesung saw a large, fresh bruise on his face. “What happened?”

          “I-I accidentally fell,” Ryeowook lied.

          “C’mere,” Yesung whispered, scooping up Ryeowook in his arms before carrying him over to the bed, setting him down gently. Taking Ryeowook’s face in his hands, Yesung wiped away the tears dripping from his eyes, and said “Please tell me what really happened. Every day I come home and you have another bruise, and I know it can’t be from you falling all the time.”

          Ryeowook averted his gaze; he wanted to tell Yesung the truth, but he was afraid of the consequences it would bring. “I-I don’t want you to get m-mad at me,” Ryeowook muttered.

          Yesung pressed a chaste kiss on Ryeowook’s forehead and promised “I would never get mad at you, just please tell me. I hate seeing you hurt like this.” When Ryeowook still showed signs of hesitation, Yesung whispered “Did someone hit you?” Ryeowook slowly nodded. Yesung sighed before continuing “Was it Kyuhyun?”

          That’s when Ryeowook broke down and loudly sobbed, leaning closer into Yesung’s embrace, while the raven haired Korean wrapped his arms around the distraught brunette, shushing him gently. “H-he told me n-not to tell you,” Ryeowook mumbled almost inaudibly.

          Ryeowook began to cry harder as Yesung stroked his bangs and whispered “It’s alright, I’ll take care of everything.”

          After Ryeowook had calmed down some, Yesung kissed his head again before standing up, heading towards the main area of the warehouse with anger blazing in his eyes. Yesung shoved Kyuhyun before the dark brunette Korean demanded “What the fuck is your problem?”

          “Why are there bruises on Ryeowook?” Yesung growled.

          “What?” Kyuhyun snapped.

          “Why the fuck are there bruises on him?!” Yesung screamed, pointing back towards the room. “Every day I come home and there are new bruises on Ryeowook, and I know you fucking had something to do with it.”

          “So what if I did? He’s nothing but a fucking nuisance and I regret letting you bring him here,” Kyuhyun scowled.

          Yesung suddenly grabbed Kyuhyun by the front of his shirt and slammed him back against the wall, saying through gritted teeth, “After everything I helped you do, after all the people I helped you kill, after all the times I risked my fucking neck for you, this is how you repay me; by hurting the one person I care about and wanna help?!”

          “What are you gonna do, huh? Go to the cops?” Kyuhyun mocked as he laughed. “Like they would believe a fucking prick like you.”

          Yesung threw Kyuhyun down to the ground and climbed on top of him, beginning to punch at the dark brunette Korean’s face. Kyuhyun kicked Yesung in the stomach, sending him backwards off him as Kyuhyun sat up. Looking up, Yesung saw that Sungmin and Ryeowook were observing the fight from the doorway to their room, and immediately scrambled to his feet before going over and grabbing Sungmin by the arm, yanking him into the room, and twisting an arm behind his back. “You wanna hurt the one person I care about?” Yesung panted. He pulled out his lighter and flicked it on, holding the flame near Sungmin. “How about I just hurt the one person love?”

          Kyuhyun slowly rose to his feet and growled “Watch yourself Yesung.”

          “Don’t think I won’t do it,” Yesung replied. Kyuhyun saw Sungmin look at him for help as Yesung moved the lighter and began burning spots on Sungmin’s back and shoulder blades, causing the blonde to scream.

          “Goddammit stop!” Kyuhyun yelled, taking several steps closer to Yesung.

          Yesung pulled the lighter away from Sungmin’s skin abruptly and remarked “See, doesn’t it kill you to watch your precious Minnie get hurt?” Yesung then moved the lighter against Sungmin’s back again, making the blonde yelp out in pain once more.

          Hearing Sungmin’s cries, Kyuhyun turned and stormed over to where Ryeowook was currently hiding and grabbed him by the hair, dragging him over to Yesung. Kyuhyun picked up a knife off of the countertop and pulled Ryeowook back, forcing the blade against the brunette’s throat. This made Yesung immediately pause as Kyuhyun glared at him. “How about I cut open your pet and let him bleed?” he threatened, gradually pressing the blade deeper into Ryeowook’s skin.

          “Let go of him,” Yesung lowly demanded.

          “You let go of Minnie,” Kyuhyun retaliated.

          Yesung saw tears silently fall from Ryeowook’s eyes and the terrified expression on his face, and looked at Sungmin and saw the same fear in his eyes. The raven haired Korean realized what he was doing, dropped his lighter, and instantly shoved Sungmin towards Kyuhyun as Kyuhyun pushed Ryeowook towards him. Ryeowook collapsed in Yesung’s embrace and gripped his shirt for safety. Sungmin trembled against Kyuhyun as the dark brunette Korean wrapped his arms around him. Yesung and Kyuhyun looked at one another before Kyuhyun slowly picked up Sungmin and carried him into his room while Yesung took Ryeowook into the other room. Sitting down on his bed, Yesung cradled Ryeowook in his arms, shushing him gently. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for that to happen,” Yesung whispered, pressing a kiss to Ryeowook’s cheek.

          “Y-you got so angry,” Ryeowook cried quietly. “I was so scared.”

          Yesung placed his hand on Ryeowook’s face and looked at him, as he replied “Ryeowook I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just, I snapped when Kyuhyun hurt you. Please, please don’t be afraid of me, I’m so sorry.”

          Ryeowook lay his head on Yesung’s shoulder and pressed his face to Yesung’s neck, whispering “I’m not afraid of you, I’m falling for you.”

          Yesung’s eyes shot wide open as he looked at Ryeowook. “You are?” he questioned. Ryeowook nodded; even after everything that had happened to him, Yesung had still managed to earn Ryeowook’s trust and now his affection.

          Sitting up, Ryeowook gazed into Yesung’s dark eyes and slowly put his hand against Yesung’s cheek. “I know I’m supposed to hate you because you kidnapped me, I’m supposed to fear you because you violently attacked my boyfriend, but I don’t, not anymore. Not after how good and how gentle you’ve treated me. You look at my scars and still think I’m beautiful, you comfort me when I’m scared and promise me everything will be okay. You’re the only person I trust with my body anymore,” Ryeowook explained. He took one of Yesung’s hands and after lifting his own shirt slightly, placed Yesung’s hand on his scarred abdomen. Yesung swallowed roughly as he felt the ailments, setting his other hand right next to the one on Ryeowook’s stomach. Ryeowook gasped quietly as Yesung gradually slid his fingers over the scars before slipping his hands around Ryeowook’s waist to his back. Yesung lightly trailed his fingertips up Ryeowook’s spine as he pulled the brunette closer to him and kissed his lips lovingly.

          Across the warehouse, Kyuhyun had set Sungmin down gently on the bed before sitting down next to him. Reaching over, Kyuhyun wiped away the tears that were currently staining Sungmin’s cheeks. “Minnie I’m so sorry,” Kyuhyun apologized, stroking Sungmin’s face. “Here, let me see.” Sungmin slowly turned so that his bare back was facing Kyuhyun. The dark brunette Korean reached out and lightly touched the burn marks on Sungmin’s back from where Yesung had held the lighter, making Sungmin flinch. “I’ll be right back,” Kyuhyun whispered, standing up. When he returned, Kyuhyun was holding a damp washcloth and sat back down next to Sungmin. He gently pressed the cool cloth to Sungmin’s burns, making the blonde wince. “I’m sorry Minnie, I’m just trying to help the pain go away. Luckily it’s only a first degree burn, so you should be fully healed in a few days.” After cooling down Sungmin’s injuries, Kyuhyun placed his hands on the blonde’s waist and began to kiss each burn, whispering “I’m so sorry Minnie, I’m sorry I let him hurt you like that.”

          Sungmin quietly gasped as Kyuhyun’s lips trailed up his spine to land on his shoulder and then his neck; Sungmin could feel a heat growing in his lower stomach. “Do you really love me?” Sungmin muttered, remembering hearing Yesung yell about how he was going to hurt the person that Kyuhyun loved.

          Kyuhyun paused and raised his head. “Of course Minnie,” he confirmed, grazing his lips across Sungmin’s shoulder. “I love you with all my soul, and I have since the first day I met you.”

          Turning to face Kyuhyun, like Ryeowook, something inside Sungmin’s brain snapped, causing the blonde to no longer see Kyuhyun as a danger, but now as someone who cared about him, and only kidnapped him to keep him safe and love him. Sungmin placed his hands on Kyuhyun’s face and leaned forward to kiss his captor; no longer playing along with Kyuhyun’s fantasy, Sungmin was giving into it and accepting Kyuhyun’s claim that he was his long lost Minnie. Kyuhyun slipped his arms around Sungmin, holding the blonde close to him. “Now that you’re here, I’m never letting you go again. All I wanted was to just be with you again Minnie,” Kyuhyun whispered, raking a hand through Sungmin’s blonde hair.

          Originally, Sungmin would’ve thought that statement was insanely creepy and that Kyuhyun was a psychopath, but now Sungmin only smiled and replied “Then be with me.”

          Kyuhyun kissed Sungmin and moved them so that now Sungmin was lying down on the bed while Kyuhyun hovered over him, still kissing his lips passionately. Breaking their kiss, Kyuhyun sat up on his knees and pulled his shirt up so that his torso and upper body were exposed, before leaning down to kiss Sungmin’s neck. The blonde moaned quietly, hands discreetly slipping up Kyuhyun’s back. Sungmin allowed Kyuhyun’s lips to begin journeying over his body, down past the middle of chest, before circling back up to lightly kiss around one of Sungmin’s nipples. Kyuhyun continued teasing Sungmin for a few moments before finally closing his lips over the erect bud, letting his hot tongue move around it slowly. Sungmin began to moan quietly as he slightly arched his back and buried his fingers in Kyuhyun’s hair. The dark brunette Korean then removed his mouth from Sungmin’s chest and kept traveling downwards, past his ribs, to land on his stomach. Kyuhyun unbuttoned Sungmin’s jeans and slid them off, exposing his legs to the cool, dry air of the room. Sungmin’s heart pounded as Kyuhyun’s lips crept up his legs, landing on his inner thighs. The blonde continued to moan quietly, feeling the dark brunette Korean kiss all over his thighs, before he whispered “Do you want me to pleasure you Minnie?”

          “Yes, please,” Sungmin begged, starting to grip the bedsheets in his fists.

          “Are you sure? We’ve never done this before, you’re sure you’re ready?” Kyuhyun checked, stroking his fingertips over Sungmin’s legs.

          Sungmin sat up and looked at the dark brunette Korean. “I’m positive, please, I know you’ll be gentle,” Sungmin replied, placing his hand on Kyuhyun’s face.

          Smiling, Kyuhyun leaned forward and kissed Sungmin before lying him back down on the bed. Kyuhyun then moved to pull down Sungmin’s boxers slightly, nipping at the blonde’s hips as Sungmin arched his body so Kyuhyun could slip the garment off. Opening his jaw, Kyuhyun took Sungmin’s member in gradually, causing the blonde to moan out a sigh, feeling Kyuhyun’s mouth and tongue move back and forth against his erect, throbbing member as Sungmin began to thrust his hips in rhythm with Kyuhyun’s mouth. Sungmin felt his body begin to melt into the bed, becoming overwhelmed with arousal as Kyuhyun pleasured him. The blonde let out a high pitched moan as he arched his back as much as he could, and orgasmed down Kyuhyun’s throat, sighing “K-Kyuhyun.”

          After swallowing, Kyuhyun sat up on his knees and wiped the corner of his mouth, watching Sungmin’s chest move up and down rapidly as he panted. “I always knew you’d taste sweet Minnie,” Kyuhyun whispered as he crawled up Sungmin’s body to capture his lips with his own again. Sungmin reached up and entangled his fingers back in Kyuhyun’s hair, before running his hands down to unbutton Kyuhyun’s jeans, pushing them, along with his boxers, off quickly. Kyuhyun noticed Sungmin’s behavior and slowly ran his hands up the sides of the blonde’s thighs, panting “Do you want me Minnie?”

          “Yes,” Sungmin breathed out as he slid his arms around Kyuhyun’s neck, kissing him once more.

          “Let me prepare you first,” Kyuhyun replied, snaking one of his hands down Sungmin’s body. The blonde gasped loudly as he felt Kyuhyun’s fingers reenter his body, moving around inside him. Sungmin closed his eyes and moaned as the erotic euphoria took hold of him once more. Kyuhyun pushed his fingers further into Sungmin, making the blonde’s hips thrust forward repeatedly as Kyuhyun nipped at Sungmin’s shoulder. Sungmin felt his member tense up before ejaculating all over his thighs and even on Kyuhyun’s hand. Panting quietly, trying to catch his breath, Sungmin heard Kyuhyun shush him gently and remove his fingers as he whispered “You look so beautiful when you moan for me Minnie.”

          Opening his eyes, Sungmin glanced down and saw the remains of his orgasm still staining his lower region. Looking over at the dark brunette Korean, the blonde watched Kyuhyun move back in between his legs and lower his head to clean up Sungmin. The blonde moaned quietly, feeling Kyuhyun’s warm tongue lick over his thighs and hips and momentarily suck against his member, cleaning up the released seed. Kyuhyun then moved to hover back over Sungmin, allowing the blonde to take his captor’s face in his hands. Gazing into his eyes, Sungmin still saw the gentle darkness that lie in his irises, but he wasn’t frightened anymore. Kyuhyun kissed Sungmin’s lips again as he spread his legs before wrapping them around his own waist, positioning himself over Sungmin. Kissing at Sungmin’s neck, Kyuhyun entered Sungmin slowly, listening to his feminine moans once more as the blonde raked his fingers up Kyuhyun’s back. The blonde let his hands trek down and rest on Kyuhyun’s hips, feeling Kyuhyun’s continuous rhythmic movement he continued pushing in and out of Sungmin. “Kyuhyun, ah, ah,” Sungmin gasped out in ecstasy, as the dark brunette Korean’s lips grazed over his throat. “Kyuhyun, ah, ah, oh Kyuhyun.”

          Pushing deep into Sungmin, Kyuhyun struck his sweet spot, causing Sungmin to ecstatically moan and arch his back as he gripped Kyuhyun’s hair in his fists, letting Kyuhyun’s name escape his lips once more. Releasing into the blonde, Kyuhyun groaned with Sungmin, feeling the blonde’s body tremble with orgasmic bliss as they caught their breath and looked at one another. After a few moments, Kyuhyun moved to lie next to Sungmin as they turned on their sides to face one another. Kyuhyun lightly stroked his fingertips down Sungmin’s face, leaning forward to kiss him softly, whispering “I love you my Minnie, my sweet baby Minnie.”

          Kyuhyun slipped his arms around Sungmin’s figure, caressing his back gently as Sungmin gazed at him. Sungmin traced one of his fingers over Kyuhyun’s lips, thinking to himself; I really am his Minnie. Without thinking, Sungmin replied “I love you too.” Now he had fully submitted himself to Kyuhyun, accepting the inevitable fate he had brought upon himself; to be Kyuhyun’s forever.

          Hours later, Yesung awoke in the middle of the night to find Ryeowook still in his arms, whimpering in his sleep. Yesung gently stroked Ryeowook’s hair and shushed him gently, whispering “It’s okay, it’s okay.” Eyes still closed, Ryeowook’s whimpering ceased as he settled deeper into Yesung’s embrace. “I’ll be right back.” Yesung kissed Ryeowook’s forehead before standing and walking into the main area of the warehouse, over to the kitchen section. As he got a glass of water, Yesung heard the door to the other room open, and out walk Kyuhyun, dressed in only his boxer shorts. The two looked at one another before Kyuhyun got himself a glass of water, both drinking silently for a minute, before Yesung spoke up. “Did you fuck him again?” he wondered.

          “For your information, I don’t fuck Minnie, I make love to him, and yes I did. He was so into it this time, unlike the other day. It was almost like our first time all over again,” Kyuhyun explained as he recollected a memory.

          “Whatever dude,” Yesung muttered, drinking more of his water.

          “Did you fuck your bitch yet?” Kyuhyun questioned.

          Yesung slammed his glass down loudly on the countertop. “Stop fucking calling him that,” Yesung growled. “He is not my bitch, he is not my pet, he’s very special to me, like Minnie is to you.”

          “So why haven’t you fucked him yet?” Kyuhyun asked nonchalantly.

          “Because he’s not ready. That fucking bastard that Ryeowook dated traumatized him physically and emotionally beyond compare; he raped him, he beat him, he scarred him, and did God knows what else to him. At least I managed to help _him_ ,” Yesung lamented.

          Kyuhyun was quiet for a moment, remembering the incident Yesung was referring to, muttering “I know.”

          Yesung finished his water before announcing “I’ve decided to take Ryeowook away from here.”

          “What?” Kyuhyun questioned.

          “I told you I would help you find Minnie, and I have. Now that you have him back, I’m taking Ryeowook away so I can help him heal and keep him safe. I can’t trust you around him any longer Kyuhyun, and I’m not gonna let him be subjected to abuse by anyone ever again, not even by someone I call my friend,” Yesung explained. “My work is done.” Yesung turned and left Kyuhyun standing there stunned at his statement.

          Returning to the room, Yesung quietly shut the door, before lying back down on the bed next to Ryeowook, pulling the brunette back into his embrace. Ryeowook groaned softly as he turned over and slightly opened his eyes, whispering “Yesung?”

          “It’s alright,” the raven haired Korean promised, stroking Ryeowook’s hair, putting the brunette back to sleep. “I’m gonna take you far away from here and keep you safe. I’ll take care of you in every way I can.” Yesung pressed his lips to Ryeowook’s, before watching Ryeowook sleep in his arms.

          Early the next morning, Kangin sat in his office inside the 18th Precinct before Siwon, Donghae, Changmin, and Seunghyun knocked on the door. “Come in,” the Captain called. As the four entered, Kangin reminded “Seunghyun, you know you’re on administrative leave until –”

          “Captain I understand that, but you have to look at the files I found in Yesung’s desk,” Seunghyun interrupted.

          Seeing Kangin’s skepticism, Donghae agreed “Please Captain, there are things we found that you won’t believe.”

          “Are they relevant to the case?” Kangin wondered.

          “They are, and then some,” Siwon confirmed.

          “What do you mean?” the Captain asked.

          “Take a look for yourself; Yesung had these five files stashed away in a locked drawer in his desk,” Changmin replied as the detectives set three files down on Kangin’s desk. “These here were bound together with a rubber band, apparently all coinciding in the same cold case.”

          Opening up the files, Kangin saw the names as his mouth dropped. “Oh my God,” Kangin muttered under his breath.

          “Do you know them sir?” Siwon asked.

          “These three were my best friends in high school,” Kangin informed. “But a couple of years after we graduated, they disappeared.”

          “They didn’t just disappear, they all vanished on the exact same night,” Seunghyun said.

          “That’s one thing I do remember about this, that was always so strange,” Kangin said as he continued looking over the files. “But why would Yesung want to hide these files in his desk?”

          “We were wondering the same thing, so we examined the other two files,” Donghae replied.

          Siwon handed another manila folder to Kangin before explaining “Seunghyun also discovered Cho Kyuhyun’s file hidden in Yesung’s desk. It explained that after his sophomore year of high school, he was sent to a psychiatric institution for troubled youths and remained there for two years due to violent outbursts and depression; the only thing is it doesn’t explain what caused this.”

          “And since you said something about attending high school with him, we figured you could maybe help us with some insight,” Changmin added.

          “Alright, what do you need to know?” Kangin complied.

          “What was his behavior like?” Siwon wondered.

          “I told you before, he was quiet, distant, weird guy who mostly kept to himself,” Kangin reminded.

          “Do you remember any of his friends?” Seunghyun continued.

          “From what I remember, Kyuhyun never had any friends,” Kangin recalled.

          “Well do you remember anything happening that may have pushed him over the edge?” Donghae inquired.

          Kangin sat there silently for a minute before his mouth slightly dropped open. “Yes, there was something,” he confirmed. Standing up, Kangin walked over to the bookshelf and retrieved his yearbook. Opening it up, Kangin pointed to one of the photographs in the sophomore section. “Something happened to his boyfriend, Kim Jaemin. There were tons of rumors circulating about what had happened to him, but one day, he just stopped showing up to school.”

          Looking at the picture, Donghae gasped. “You guys look, his hair is blonde, his face is feminine, and he looks very similar to Sungmin,” he realized.

          “This definitely explains a lot,” Seunghyun agreed.

          “And look at the name Jaemin, that’s a perfect fit to someone who could be nicknamed Minnie,” Changmin added. “And something happening to his boyfriend could’ve been what made him snap.”

          “So you four think that Kyuhyun became a serial killer because something happened to his boyfriend over eleven years ago?” Kangin questioned. “It’s a stretch, plus this evidence is all circumstantial, any defense attorney will say that; we need a confession or physical evidence to really do anything.”

          “Yesung’s trying to cover up the dirty work,” Seunghyun figured.

          “You seriously don’t think Yesung would have anything to do with this do you? I mean it’s –” Donghae started before remembering what Hyukjae had told him. “Oh my God.”

          “What is it Donghae?” Changmin asked.

          “Remember when we interviewed Hyukjae and he told us there were two kidnappers? He said that one had black hair, was quiet, and was always on an electronic device, just like Yesung. And he said the other one had dark brunette hair, just like Kyuhyun’s got,” Donghae remembered.

          “So now we’re speculating that not only did Yesung try to cover up his friend being a serial killer, but you think he was in on it too?” Siwon asked.

          “It’s like some elaborate web they’ve spun or something,” Changmin commented.

          Just then, something caught Donghae’s eye as he gazed down again at the yearbook. Looking closer, Donghae’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he covered his mouth. “Guys, look at the bottom row, fourth picture over,” he instructed.

          They followed Donghae’s word and scanned for the picture before Seunghyun read the name underneath, “Kim Jong-woon.”

          “Captain, what do you know about this guy?” Siwon questioned, pointing to the picture.

          “Nothing, I didn’t know him,” Kangin replied.

          “Something about him looks, familiar,” Changmin noted. “Like I feel like we’ve seen him somewhere.”

          “Captain, Yesung had this record locked away as well; it was at the very bottom, and it has Kim Jong-woon’s name on it,” Donghae explained, handing the final folder to Kangin.

          “Alright, I think it’s time to call Yesung in and have him explain himself,” Kangin decided. “Be discreet about it, I don’t want you to alarm him.”

          “Yes sir,” the four responded.

          Back in the warehouse, Ryeowook to see Yesung lying in bed next to him. “Did you sleep well?” Yesung muttered, stroking the brunette’s face softly.

          “Yes, I sleep much better when you’re here to protect me,” Ryeowook whispered.

          Yesung smiled and leaned over to kiss Ryeowook’s lips, before informing, “I’m taking you away from here.”

          “What?” Ryeowook asked.

          “I don’t want anyone to hurt you ever again, so I’m going to take you far away from here where it’s just you and me. We can start a new life together and I’ll take care of you and help you get better emotionally, no matter how long it takes,” Yesung gently explained before kissing him again.

          Ryeowook nodded and whispered “Okay, I trust you.”

          As the two looked at one another, Yesung’s cell phone rang. The raven haired Korean sat up and grabbed his phone, noticing it was Donghae. “Hey dude what is it?” he asked.

          “We had a couple of IT guys call in sick today, must be some virus going around. Anyways, the Captain wanted me to ask you if you could maybe come cover for just a little bit,” Donghae lied.

          “Donghae, I don’t –” Yesung started.

          “Please Yesung, none of the other IT people are willing to come in, and we’re getting backed up already. It’s just for a couple of hours, the Captain promises you’ll be gone by two at the latest,” Donghae continued.

          Sighing, Yesung responded “Yeah, I’ll be there soon.”

          “Thanks Yesung,” Donghae said before hanging up.

          Yesung turned back to Ryeowook and took his face in his hands, pressing their foreheads together. “I have to go to work for a couple of hours. While I’m gone, why don’t you get everything together? That way when I get back, we can leave,” he suggested.

          “What if Kyuhyun comes in here?” Ryeowook nervously asked.

          “He shouldn’t, he’s too occupied with Sungmin, plus you’re not in the same room with him now, so just stay in here and you should be safe until I get back,” Yesung promised. Seeing Ryeowook’s worried look, Yesung whispered “Everything will be okay, after today you’ll never have to feel scared again.” Kissing Ryeowook’s lips lovingly, Yesung added “I’ll come back for you in a few hours.”

          Entering the precinct, Yesung found that all the usual IT workers were there, which he found suspicious. One of the IT specialists noticed Yesung and said “Oh Yesung, the Captain wanted you to go to interrogation room one, something about a faulty camera or something.”

          “Okay,” Yesung remarked. Still wary, Yesung slowly walked to the interrogation room and stepped in before the door was immediately slammed shut. The raven haired Korean found Kangin sitting one on side of the table while Siwon and Donghae stood on either side of him.

          “Take a seat Yesung,” Kangin instructed. “It would be wise of you to comply.”

          Yesung slowly walked over to the opposite side of the table and sat down. “What’s this about?” he questioned.

          “Explain to me why five files were discovered in your desk,” Kangin ordered.

          “You mean you haven’t figured it out yet?” Yesung wondered, casually leaning back.

          “We figured it out, but we need to hear it from you,” Siwon responded.

          Yesung smirked. “No you haven’t, you have no evidence so you’re resorting to getting a confession from me,” he replied. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

          Just then, Changmin opened the door and motioned for the detectives to join him outside. “We’ll be back in a minute,” Kangin said as he stood up, following Donghae and Siwon out of the interrogation room.

          “What is it?” Siwon asked.

          “Kim Yesung doesn’t exist,” Changmin revealed.

          “What the fuck do you mean he doesn’t exist?” Siwon inquired.

          “We have a file on him,” Kangin reminded.

          “I mean, I can’t find anything on him, not a birth certificate, not a diploma, nothing. However, after seeing the picture of Kim Jong-woon in the yearbook, I had a hunch. Now this is where it gets interesting; I took a cup out of his trashcan from under his desk and sent it down to the lab to see if my hypothesis was correct, and it was, the DNA sample collected from the saliva on Yesung’s cup came back as Kim Jong-woon’s DNA,” Changmin explained.

          “Kim Yesung and Kim Jong-woon are the same person,” Donghae realized as the detectives looked at one another in disbelief.


	12. Chapter 12

          Opening the door to the interrogation room, Siwon threw down the file on the table and pressed his palms to the wooded top as he leaned down and said “We know your secret, Jong-woon.”

          Hearing that name made Yesung lower his head for a moment. He began to make a low noise and shake, confusing Siwon and Donghae. Raising his head slowly, Yesung revealed himself to be laughing with an evil grin present across his lips, making the detectives very unsettled. “So, you finally figured it out did you? Not bad, only took you a few fucking years,” Yesung mocked. “It’s hilarious how fucking stupid you guys really are.”

          “Why did you change your name? Why have you been lying to us all this time?” Donghae wondered, trying to ignore Yesung’s last statement. “And where is my cousin?”

          “Save your breath Donghae, he’s not gonna tell us,” Siwon figured.

          “They’re safe,” Yesung muttered.

          Both detectives turned to Yesung. “What did you say?” Siwon asked.

          “I said he’s safe,” Yesung repeated.

          “No, you said ‘they’, you said ‘they’re safe’,” Donghae corrected as he stood up. “Who else do you have?”

          “It’s none of your concern, just be grateful that your cousin is still alive,” Yesung responded.

          Donghae quickly left the interrogation room to talk to Kangin, Changmin, and Seunghyun, who were currently watching through the one way glass. “I think there’s someone else being held hostage besides Sungmin; Captain I wanna search through his desk to see if I can find something,” he explained.

          “Go on, I’ll join Siwon until you get back,” Kangin approved before Donghae rushed down the hall towards the main area of the precinct.

          “I’d really like get in there and help question him,” Seunghyun grumbled under his breath, glaring at Yesung through the glass.

          “You’re still on leave, and only here as a curtesy to the case; I’m not even supposed to let you be in the building right now,” Kangin reminded before opening the door.

          “Yes sir,” Seunghyun muttered as he turned to the one way glass again.

          Walking back into the interrogation room, Kangin stared at Yesung and asked “How the hell did you keep this ruse for so long?”

          Yesung smirked. “Cosmetic surgery is wonderful, isn’t it? It’s amazing how a few tiny procedures can make someone look like an entirely new person,” Yesung remarked with a grin across his face.

          “Surgery?” Kangin repeated.

          “It was the only way I could work here and not have you recognize me. Gotta admit though, I look much better now than I did in high school,” Yesung replied.

          “What was the point of it all?” Kangin inquired.

          “Wow, you really don’t remember, do you?” Yesung questioned.

          “What the fuck are you talking about?” Kangin demanded.

          Yesung laughed. “I bet you haven’t even told your detectives about what a fucking bastard you were in high school,” he said, crossing his arms. “I bet they don’t know what you did; what you got away with.”

          Kangin swallowed. “That was a long time ago,” he muttered.

          Yesung slammed his fist into the table as he stood up. “Twelve fucking years!” he shouted as the detectives jumped back suddenly. “It was twelve years ago, and I still remember everything; _we_ still remember everything.” Tears began to glisten in Yesung’s eyes as he sat back down.

          “You mean you and Cho Kyuhyun,” Siwon clarified. Yesung nodded and looked down at the table as he began to zone out, memories flooding his mind. “What happened between the three of you?”

          “Wouldn’t you like to know,” Yesung scoffed.

          Donghae rummaged through Yesung’s desk, trying to find some kind of clue that could give him a hint to the other potential victim. In one of the drawers, under a stack of papers, Donghae found yet another hidden manila folder. Pulling it out, he saw there was a sticky note stuck to the outside of the file, with the word ‘Special’, written on it. Opening it up, Donghae began reading through the file, slowly getting an idea of a way to have Yesung turn on Kyuhyun.

          “When did you first meet Kyuhyun?” Siwon continued.

          “I told you in the café that we were high school friends,” Yesung reminded.

          “I don’t ever remember seeing you two hang out together,” Kangin recalled.

          “Oh that part you do remember?” Yesung sarcastically asked.

          Donghae opened up the door to the interrogation room. “Captain, can I speak to you for a minute?” he requested.

          Kangin stood and left the room. “What is it Donghae?” he wondered.

          “I found this file hidden in Yesung’s desk, separate from all the other files,” Donghae stated. “I looked it over; Captain, I think this could help us get him to confess and lead us to finding Kyuhyun and the victims.”

          “Alright, it’s worth a shot,” Kangin agreed. “I’ll pull Siwon from the room; maybe Yesung will feel more comfortable with it just being you in there since he considers you a friend.”

          “I don’t know for how much longer though,” Donghae muttered before opening the door back up. Stepping inside, Donghae said “Siwon, Captain wants to see you.” Siwon slowly rose and exited the interrogation room, leaving Donghae and Yesung alone as the other detectives watched from the one way glass. A few moments of silence passed between the two before Donghae inquired “Can I still call you Yesung, or would you rather I call you by your birth name Jong-woon?”

          “Kim Jong-woon died twelve years ago,” Yesung mumbled under his breath.

          “Alright Yesung,” Donghae responded as he walked over and sat down across from the raven haired Korean at the metal table. “I thought you were my friend.”

          “That’s what you get for thinking Donghae,” Yesung replied.

          Donghae took a deep breath. “Why did you kidnap those young men? Why did you take my cousin? What’s special about him?” When Yesung remained silent, Donghae added “Fine, then let me ask this; what’s so special about Kim Ryeowook?” Yesung immediately looked up at Donghae as the brunette detective produced the file. “He’s the other one you took, isn’t he?”

          “I had to save him,” Yesung slowly informed. “You obviously looked at his file, you know he was in a vicious relationship with a fucking sadist, constantly subjected to beatings, rape, mutilation, emotional abuse –”

          “I understand that, but we’ve handled abuse cases before; why him?” Donghae wondered.

          “He, he looked so pure, so innocent, so scared, I just wanted to take him away so he’d be safe,” Yesung whispered, thinking back to the first time he saw Ryeowook sitting in the precinct. “I thought, if I could just save him, then maybe _he’d_ forgive me.”

          “Who, who would forgive you?” Donghae asked.

          Yesung shook his head. “I can’t talk about it, Kyuhyun and I –”

          “Yesung, Cho Kyuhyun is a violent murdering rapist; do you think Ryeowook is safe with Kyuhyun?” Donghae questioned. He picked up Ryeowook’s photo from the file. “Look at him, look at Ryeowook.” The raven haired Korean gazed at the picture of his brunette love as Donghae continued “Now think about what Kyuhyun will do to Ryeowook if you’re not there to protect him. Think of how bruised and broken his body will become, think of how he’ll scream in pain, calling out for you to save him, but you won’t be able to because you’ll be the only one we’ll charge. If we can’t find Kyuhyun, all the blame falls on you, and then how safe will Ryeowook be?”

          Tears silently slipped down Yesung’s cheeks as he took the picture from Donghae and stroked his thumb across Ryeowook’s face. “Do you love him?” Donghae softly asked.

          “Yes,” Yesung whispered.

          “Then help us so we can put the right one away so you can keep him safe,” Donghae begged. “Please Yesung, who is it you want to forgive you?”

          “Jaemin,” Yesung said.

          “Kyuhyun’s high school boyfriend?” Donghae questioned in a confused tone.

          “Jaemin wasn’t just Kyuhyun’s boyfriend, he was my adopted brother,” Yesung revealed.

          “What happened to him?” Donghae inquired.

          “Jaemin came to live with us when we were both eight. We were the first real family he had. His biological parents were evil, they beat him, they molested him, they did unspeakable things him, and even though I hadn’t met him yet, I always felt guilty that I couldn’t keep him safe,” Yesung explained. “Jaemin was a few months younger than me, so as an older brother, I wanted to protect him, always promising that one day I would find his real parents and hurt them for what they did.”

          “So that’s why you took Ryeowook,” Donghae figured. “To save him, because you couldn’t save Jaemin.”

          Yesung nodded. “He was very distant at first, but he slowly opened up to me, and I loved Jaemin as though he was my real brother. But then the abuse at school happened.”

          “You mean by a teacher?” Donghae asked.

          “No, Jaemin had a smaller build on him than most boys our age, and had a very feminine face, so other boys would pick on him and call him a girl or things like that. I would try to defend him, but they still continued,” Yesung informed. “He was bullied all the way up into high school, by the same four guys every time; the Captain and his three cronies.”

          Donghae’s eyes widened. “Kangin and his friends bullied your brother?” he inquired.

          “Every day for eight years,” Yesung confirmed.

          “When did he meet Kyuhyun?” Donghae wondered.

          “In middle school,” Yesung said. “They were in a science class together, as well as a photography class. Kyuhyun was really quiet, but loved Jaemin. One time, Kyuhyun nearly killed one of the bullies by bashing his head into the mirror of the school bathroom, because he saw the guy was trying to hurt Jaemin; I honestly admire the restraint Kyuhyun used.”

          Kangin swallowed roughly from outside, remembering the incident well. “So Kyuhyun protected Jaemin,” Donghae stated.

          Yesung nodded. “He was good to Jaemin, my brother was always happy with Kyuhyun, he always smiled and laughed and the two were inseparable. Jaemin would tell me all the time about how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Kyuhyun, and it felt right because of how well Kyuhyun treated him.”

          “Did he have a nickname for Jaemin?” Donghae slowly wondered.

          Nodding once more, Yesung confirmed “Yes, Kyuhyun’s special name for Jaemin was Minnie. Jaemin loved it, so Kyuhyun called him that more than his own name.”

          “He’s the Minnie,” Donghae muttered. “What happened to Jaemin?”

          Yesung closed his eyes and whispered “I can still see him so vividly, just lying there.”

          “Lying where?” Donghae gently pushed.

          “On his bedroom floor, with a knife right beside him and a dark pool of blood forming underneath him, staining the hardwood floor,” Yesung recalled slowly.

          “Jaemin –” Donghae started.

          “Yeah,” Yesung cut off. “He killed himself. All because of what they did to him.”

          “So you and Kyuhyun decided to teach them a lesson,” Donghae guessed, laying out the files of Kangin’s three friends in front of Yesung.

          Yesung smirked. “The police never did a damn thing about it, because bullying wasn’t considered a crime at the time. Kyuhyun was furious, and had a mental breakdown, forcing him to be sent away to a juvenile center for a couple of years,” he said. “But when he got out, he had one thing on his mind; make everyone who had hurt his Minnie pay. And with Jaemin being my brother, I wanted to help him, I wanted all of them fucking suffer.”

          “What did you do to these three?” Donghae inquired, grazing his hand quickly over the files in front of them.

          “Did you know that the venom from a golden weaver spider will paralyze you for a while before eventually killing you? That is, provided something else doesn’t kill you first,” Yesung explained. Seeing Donghae’s expression, Yesung continued “I had a pet spider named Ophelia, and Kyuhyun found out that we could extract the venom from her and use it. After a few hours, Kyuhyun had gotten the venom from Ophelia and soaked hypodermic needles in the venom. It was so easy to find where they lived, just a quick social media search. Once the venom was in their veins, it only took a matter of seconds for the effects to take hold. They were conscious, but incapacitated; they couldn’t move, couldn’t scream for help, couldn’t fight back. Kyuhyun wanted to them to know what it was like to feel helpless, like how they always made Jaemin feel.”

          “Did you and Kyuhyun kill them?” Donghae questioned.

          “We gave them the punishment that the legal system never would,” Yesung replied. “Their bodies looked glorious as they burned; well, what was left of their bodies.”

          Suddenly, the door to the interrogation room was thrown open as Kangin stepped in. “You son of a bitch!” he screamed. “Why would you murder my friends and not me?”

          “Because your punishment had to be more severe, because of what you personally did to Jaemin,” Yesung explained. “Kyuhyun wanted you to suffer more, because you orchestrated everything that happened that day.”

          “What are you talking about?” Kangin demanded.

          “Yesung, what happened that day?” Donghae coaxed.

          “You took the one he loved, so he took the one you loved,” Yesung stated, staring right at Kangin, tears glistening off Yesung’s dark irises.

          Kangin thought back to the note he’d received following Leeteuk’s death, and realized that Kyuhyun had to have been the one responsible for his husband’s murder. “Leeteuk never did anything wrong,” Kangin replied.

          “Neither did Jaemin,” Yesung countered. “Your punishment is to live with the guilt of not being able to save your love, just like how Kyuhyun lives with the guilt of not saving Jaemin.”

          “How long did you plan this?” Donghae wondered.

          “Kyuhyun took several years planning, watching, waiting. We used a couple of Chinese college students as practice, so that we could perfect our methods. I even went to the police academy and applied to work as an IT tech in this precinct just so I could get a better idea of Kangin’s schedule. It was easy to change my identity, just a few clicks in the computer, a few small procedures to change my appearance, pretty soon Kim Jong-woon was a distant memory, and everyone knew me as Kim Yesung,” Yesung explained.

          “That still doesn’t explain why you took the blondes,” Donghae reminded.

          “After Kangin’s punishment was administered, we were out one day, and Kyuhyun swore he saw Jaemin. I told him that Jaemin was gone, but he refused to believe it, and insisted that his Minnie was still alive. Kyuhyun took any blonde who looked like Jaemin, and forcibly called each blonde ‘Minnie’, and if they refused to admit they were Jaemin, he would rape and kill them. After a while, I started helping him find and torture other blondes, and it just made Kyuhyun angrier when they would deny being Minnie, so the torture became more grotesque with each new victim,” Yesung informed. “Speaking of which, how is Lee Hyukjae?”

          Donghae’s eyes widened. “He’s traumatized and broken; your friend raped him, tortured him, attempted to blind him, and stapled a fucking note onto his body; how do you think he’s doing?” Donghae asked through gritted teeth. “And don’t you ever think about going near him again.”

          “Donghae, all I had to do was search the database for his location at any time. If we wanted to kill him, we would’ve gone to finish him off. You think a couple of officers outside his door would keep him safe? But, it would’ve taken the fun out of the game, so we allowed you to keep your prize,” Yesung responded.

          “You are never going to touch Hyukjae again, and if you or Kyuhyun even dare think about coming after him, I can promise you, I will kill both of you,” Donghae lowly threatened. “I don’t give a fuck how powerful you and Kyuhyun think you are, don’t ever come after him.”

          Yesung smirked. “Seems I’ve found your new weakness,” he noticed seeing how defensive Donghae had become.

          Donghae took a couple of deep breaths and collected himself before he continued the interrogation. “So Kyuhyun kidnapped all those blondes to force them into believing they were his dead boyfriend?” the brunette detective figured. “And if they rejected it, he killed them.”

          “Kinda explains why you haven’t found Sungmin’s body yet, doesn’t it?” Yesung wondered.

          “Where the fuck is he Yesung?” Donghae questioned.

          “He’s happy with Kyuhyun now,” Yesung replied.

          “Just like Ryeowook is happy with you?” Donghae asked.

          “Ryeowook loves me willingly, I didn’t force him,” Yesung stated.

          “How the fuck does someone fall in love with their kidnapper?!” Donghae demanded.

          “I didn’t kidnap him, I rescued him,” Yesung remarked.

          Suddenly, Yesung’s cellphone rang. “Is that Kyuhyun?” Donghae inquired.

          Pulling out his phone, Yesung confirmed “Yes, it is him.”

          “Put the phone on speaker so we can all hear what he’s saying,” Donghae requested, looking over at the one way glass.

          Yesung refused, and answered, holding the phone up to his ear. “What is it?” he questioned. There was no voice, only the sounds of tear-filled sobs resonating. “Hello?” Yesung asked.

          The sobbing continued, before a voice softly called “Y-yesung.”

          “Ryeowook?” Yesung responded, sitting up straighter. “What’s wrong, what’s going on?” Just then, Yesung’s phone vibrated, indicating that Kyuhyun was attempting to video call him. Yesung swallowed before agreeing. A few seconds later, he was face to face with Kyuhyun, and Donghae could hear the audio emitting from the phone. “Kyuhyun what the fuck is going on? Where is Ryeowook?”

          “He’s a little tied up at the moment,” Kyuhyun informed, rotating the phone over so that Yesung could see Ryeowook was against a metal support beam of the warehouse, with his wrists tied behind his back, trapping him there. Yesung stood up at seeing this, before Kyuhyun continued “I’m taking Minnie to the other location, where we can never be disturbed again. I’m getting rid of all the evidence that ties us to the cases, including witnesses. I told you not to betray me Yesung, and now you have a choice to make.”

          Yesung’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he watched Kyuhyun flicker his lighter that he’d left behind. “Kyuhyun, please, don’t do this,” Yesung slowly pleaded. “I love him.”

          “Then you better get here quick. Say goodbye to your bitch, Yesung,” Kyuhyun challenged with an evil grin across his lips before abruptly hanging up.

          “No!” Yesung screamed, throwing his phone onto the table. He put his hands on his head and paced the room quickly as tears welled in his eyes. “No, no, no, no!”

          “Yesung where is Ryeowook?” Donghae questioned.

          “He, he’s in an abandoned warehouse in a rural area of Gangnam,” Yesung informed.

          “Okay, Yesung where is Kyuhyun taking Sungmin?” Donghae continued.

          “To our other location in Busan; I’ve gotta go, I’ve gotta get Ryeowook, Kyuhyun’s gonna burn him alive in the warehouse,” Yesung stammered.

          “We can’t let you go anywhere,” Siwon reminded as Yesung tried to walk out of the door. “You’ve just confessed to aiding several premeditated murders, we have to arrest you.”

          “Get the fuck out of my way Siwon,” Yesung growled shoving the detective back. “No one is gonna stop me from saving him.”

          “Alright, I’ll call Gangnam Fire Department and have them meet you at the location. Donghae, you go with Yesung and take some of the other officers to the warehouse location. To get out of Gangnam, they’ll have to cross the bridge; Siwon, you, Changmin, and Seunghyun will join me and other officers in blocking off the bridge so we can corner Kyuhyun,” Kangin ordered.

          “Yes sir,” all the officers agreed, jumping into action.


	13. Chapter 13

          “Can’t you go any faster?” Yesung demanded as he and Donghae sped through the Gangnam streets, racing towards the warehouse with the police sirens blaring out.

          “I’m going as fast as I can,” Donghae replied. Yesung reached over and honked the horn loudly at the cars that wouldn’t move fast enough. “Yesung if you keep doing that we’re gonna crash; would you relax, we’re gonna get there in time, don’t worry.”

          “I won’t be able to relax until I know Ryeowook is okay,” Yesung said, staring out of the window. “I should’ve never left him alone; I should’ve left with him yesterday. I swear to God if he dies, I’m gonna fucking kill Kyuhyun.”

          Upon reaching the warehouse, Donghae and Yesung stared in horror as they saw smoke emitting from the busted windows of the warehouse. “This is Detective Lee Donghae, we have reached the location and are requesting immediate response from the Fire Department, there’s citizen trapped inside,” Donghae called on his radio.

          “10-4 Detective Lee, Gangnam FD is two minutes out,” the responder informed.

          Before Donghae could respond, he saw Yesung run towards the warehouse and into a smoke cloud, disappearing. Inside, Yesung was immediately hit with heat and began coughing at the fumes around him. “Ryeowook!” he called. Listening, Yesung heard crying and coughing coming from the center of the warehouse. Maneuvering through fiery debris, Yesung found Ryeowook still tied to the support beam, with flames growing closer to him. “Ryeowook,” he muttered, placing his hands on the brunette’s face, seeing that Ryeowook was coughing violently. “Ryeowook, it’s alright now, I’m here, I’m gonna get you out,” Yesung promised as he started untying Ryeowook’s wrists.

          “Y-yesung,” Ryeowook rasped out.

          Not being able to undo the knot quick enough, Yesung pulled out his knife and began cutting at the thick rope before finally freeing Ryeowook’s hands. As he helped Ryeowook stand up, suddenly another beam began to fall towards the two. Yesung thought fast and pushed Ryeowook over to a safe spot where the flames hadn’t reached yet, allowing the beam to fall on top of him, knocking him out in the process. “Yesung!” Ryeowook yelled, seeing the raven haired Korean lying on the ground, not moving. Ryeowook stood and hurried over to try and pick up the beam, but the piece of metal was too heavy for Ryeowook to do all by himself. “Yesung, Yesung,” he cried as he tried to wake up the raven haired Korean. Suddenly, Ryeowook felt himself be grabbed by two firefighters and dragged away from Yesung. “Don’t leave him! Please, help him! Yesung!” Ryeowook begged as he was removed from the warehouse and taken to an ambulance that had just arrived.

          Donghae watched, along with the other officers, as Yesung was retrieved from the warehouse, but still unconscious. The firefighters lie him down on one of the ambulance gurneys before placing a mask over him that administered air into his lungs. “Is he gonna be okay?” Donghae asked.

          “He should be fine, but we’re getting him to the ER to check for signs of a concussion,” one firefighter informed. “The other one didn’t seem to sustain many injuries, but we will take him too, just to be safe.”

          “Alright thank you,” Donghae replied. He walked over to the other ambulance and found Ryeowook sitting inside with a blanket wrapped around him, breathing in air from an oxygen mask. “Are you Kim Ryeowook?”

          “Yes,” the brunette confirmed, removing the mask and setting it down.

          “Are you alright?” Donghae wondered.

          “I’m fine, where’s Yesung? Please tell me he made it out; please tell me he’s safe,” Ryeowook pleaded as tears glazed his irises.

          “He’s been knocked out, but they’re taking him to the hospital, and they’re going to take you there too just to be safe,” Donghae explained.

          “Will I get to see him?” Ryeowook asked hopefully.

          “Why would you _want_ to see him? He kidnapped you and held you hostage,” Donghae reminded.

          “Yesung loves me, he wouldn’t have saved me if he didn’t love me,” Ryeowook cried. “Please officer, don’t arrest him, he didn’t do anything wrong.”  

          Donghae sighed, not wanting to tell Ryeowook about all the terrible things Yesung had done, but knew now wasn’t the time for that discussion. “Look, just wait at the hospital, we’re going to have to ask you some questions,” Donghae requested before turning and running back to his car.

          Speeding over to the bridge, Donghae joined the other officers who had blocked off both ends, making it impossible for anyone to escape. “Did you get there in time?” Kangin asked when he saw Donghae.

          “Yes sir, the hostage was rescued, but Yesung was injured, so they’re both being taken to Gangnam Emergency Hospital,” Donghae informed.

          “Alright, well we’ve gotten the civilians off the bridge, but Kyuhyun is still in there with your cousin,” Kangin stated. “I want you, Siwon, Changmin, and Seunghyun to follow me slowly; the others will stay here for reinforcements.”

          The four detectives drew their guns and followed the Captain into the maze of abandoned vehicles on the bridge, splitting into different directions. “Anyone have eyes on the suspect?” Siwon asked through the radio.

          “Negative,” Changmin replied.

          “Not yet,” Seunghyun added.

          Looking around carefully, Donghae saw movement coming from a black SUV several feet away. “I think I’ve got something,” Donghae signaled to the other through his radio.

          Soon, the other detectives were hiding behind cars next to one another before gradually peeking over the vehicles to see if they could see their suspect. “Can anyone make a positive ID on the people in the car?” Kangin questioned.

          Looking closer, Donghae saw blonde hair in the passenger seat, and knew for certain it had to be his cousin. “Sungmin,” he muttered. Without thinking, Donghae leaped over one of the hoods of the cars and pointed his gun towards the vehicle that held his cousin hostage. “Cho Kyuhyun, get the fuck out of the car!” he screamed.

          The other four aimed their guns at the car as well, slowly walking out from behind their barriers to make a formation around the car. Slowly, the driver’s door opened, and Kyuhyun stepped out. “All this fuss over me?” Kyuhyun laughed.

          “Sungmin!” Donghae called, making eye contact with the blonde, who was still residing inside.

          “Would you stop screaming, you’re gonna scare Minnie,” Kyuhyun scolded.

          “You can shut the fuck up,” Donghae growled. “Get him out of the car now!”

          “If you insist,” Kyuhyun nonchalantly agreed. He turned towards his car and nodded to Sungmin. The passenger door opened and out stepped Sungmin, who walked around the front of the car to stand next to Kyuhyun, who wrapped an arm around his waist and whispered “It’s alright Minnie, we’ll be leaving soon.”

          After witnessing Kyuhyun kiss the side of Sungmin’s head, Donghae demanded “Let him go Kyuhyun.”

          “He doesn’t want to go,” Kyuhyun retaliated. “I’m not letting anyone take my Minnie away from me again.”

          “Yesung told us everything,” Siwon informed.

          “He told us what happened to the real Minnie,” Changmin added.

          “My cousin is not your Minnie, why can’t you see that?” Donghae inquired. Looking at Sungmin, Donghae continued “His Minnie died a long time ago, he’s just using you to fulfill his sick fantasy.”

          “Stop trying to confuse him,” Kyuhyun said. “Minnie knows I love him, and judging by his body’s reaction to the way I’ve touched him, I know he loves me too.”

          Donghae began to grit his teeth, thinking about Kyuhyun violating his innocent cousin and brainwashing him. “Why would he love a fucking psychopath like you?!” Kangin questioned.

          Kyuhyun turned to face the Captain as he snarled “I’m the psychopath? _I’m_ the psychopath?!”

          “You murdered so many innocent people! You killed my best friends, my husband, what kind of sane person does that?!” Kangin demanded.

          “After what you did, you’re honestly gonna judge me?” Kyuhyun questioned. “You killed the only person I ever loved and cared about!” Turning to look at Sungmin, Kyuhyun stroked his face gently, adding “But God sent him back to me.”

          “Kyuhyun, Jaemin is dead, there’s nothing that can bring him back,” Siwon said.

          Gazing at the Captain again, Kyuhyun replied “And he caused his death.”

          “What do you want from me, any apology?” Kangin questioned.

          “I want you to admit to everything you did to my Minnie,” Kyuhyun stated.

          “I bullied Jaemin yes, and I apologize for that, but that –” Kangin started, before the officers all gasped suddenly.

          Kyuhyun quickly pulled out a gun from his back pocket and pointed the weapon to Sungmin, while the blonde just stood there frozen. “No, I want you to admit _everything_ , not just the bullying. Tell them the real reason why Minnie killed himself, admit to what you did that sent him over the edge!” Kyuhyun yelled.

          “Put the gun down Kyuhyun!” the officers began shouting to the criminal, but their words seemed to not be heard, because Kyuhyun never budged, or broke gazes with Kangin. The Captain remembered exactly what Kyuhyun was talking about, but knew he couldn’t admit to something like that.

          “You know what you did, fucking admit it!” Kyuhyun screamed, pressing the gun harder to Sungmin’s head.

          “Captain, what the fuck is he talking about?!” Siwon asked.

          “Sir please, just do what he wants!” Donghae pleaded.

          Kangin licked his lips before they heard Kyuhyun cock his gun. “Alright!” Kangin yelled, before silence fell over the bridge. Taking a few deep breaths, Kangin confessed “I admit it, I hurt Jaemin that day, and I’m sorry for that.”

          Tears glistened in Kyuhyun’s eyes as he responded “You didn’t just hurt him, you broke him.”

          “Sir, what did you do?” Changmin asked.

          “He raped my Minnie!” Kyuhyun shouted through tears.

          The four officers dropped their jaws before turning to the Captain. Their Captain had sexually assaulted someone, and none of them had been aware of it. “It was during an assembly in high school,” Kangin explained. “My friends and I were in the bathroom trying to avoid it all when Jaemin came inside. Before he left, I told my friends to lock the door, and said ‘you wanna act like a girl, we’ll fuck you like one’. I was ashamed and disgusted with myself immediately afterwards; I didn’t know what came over me. When news spread that Jaemin had killed himself that afternoon, I knew why, but I said nothing.”

          “Even with the note he left, Minnie still didn’t receive the justice he deserved, all because your father was a cop. So I watched as you continued living your perfect life like nothing happened, waiting for the chance to one day let you know what it was like to lose someone you love. Finally my chance came, and I took your husband, and I did to him exactly what you did to Minnie!” Kyuhyun yelled. “That statute of limitations might have run out on Minnie’s rape, but you are gonna be punished every day by waking up without the love of your life there.”

          “Okay, you got your confession from me, now give Donghae his cousin back,” Kangin requested.

          Kyuhyun lowered his gun and challenged “Let Minnie decide where he wants to go.”

          “What?” Donghae asked.

          “Let Minnie choose if he wants to return or if he wants to stay with me,” Kyuhyun repeated.

          Sungmin stood there and looked up at Kyuhyun before turning his gaze to the officers, particularly Donghae. Thoughts filled Sungmin’s mind as he absent-mindedly took a couple of steps towards the officers before pausing. “Sungmin, what are you doing?” Donghae inquired in a confused tone as the blonde stopped walking.

          Sungmin let tears roll down his cheeks as his eyes scanned the officers before turning to look at Kyuhyun once more. “I wanna stay,” he whispered. The blonde then began walking back to Kyuhyun; hearing his cousin scream for him to stop. Kyuhyun placed his hands on Sungmin’s face as Sungmin approached him, repeating “I wanna stay with you.”

          Kyuhyun smiled and shushed Sungmin before kissing his lips. “Okay, let’s go,” Kyuhyun replied.

          “You’re not taking him anywhere!” Donghae shouted as he took a few steps towards the two.

          Kyuhyun and Sungmin began backing up towards their car slowly as Kyuhyun said “Can’t you accept the fact that you lost detective? My Minnie wants to stay with me, and there’s nothing you –”

          Suddenly, everyone froze as a gunshot rung out amongst them. Silence filled the air momentarily before Sungmin looked and saw Kyuhyun’s eyes were wide. Sungmin gasped when he saw a growing red mark appear on Kyuhyun’s abdomen. The officers turned and saw Kangin remove his finger from the trigger of his gun and lower the weapon. “Kyuhyun?” Sungmin whispered as he watched the dark brunette Korean rest against the railing of the bridge. Leaning forward, Kyuhyun muttered something into Sungmin’s ear before breathing out and falling backwards, over the railing of the bridge and plummeting down into the dark water below. Sungmin stood there paralyzed, unable to process what he had just witnessed.

          Donghae rushed over to his cousin and wrapped his arms around the blonde as tears spilled from both their eyes. Sungmin slowly raised his arms to hug Donghae back, hearing Donghae mutter “It’s alright now Sungmin, you’re safe now; Kyuhyun can’t hurt you anymore.”

          The other officers rushed over to Sungmin and Donghae, while Kangin looked over the railing to see Kyuhyun floating down the Han River. Donghae took off his jacket and draped it over Sungmin’s shoulders as Siwon asked “What did Kyuhyun say to you?”

          Sungmin was silent for a moment before turning to face the detective with an emotionless expression and slowly replied “He told me we’d always be together.”

          The four detectives looked at one another before Donghae said “I’m taking him to the hospital.”

          “Alright, you three go with Donghae to the hospital and check on Yesung and interview Kim Ryeowook about what happened. The DA is going to have a field day with all of this, and I’ve got to handle things back at the precinct,” Kangin ordered.

          “Yes sir,” the four agreed.

          Sungmin was loaded into an ambulance, while Donghae climbed in with him. Seeing how distraught his cousin was, Donghae promised “Everything’s alright now Sungmin, it’s all over now.”

          Hearing Donghae’s words, Sungmin finally broke down and sobbed. Donghae tried to put an arm around the blonde, but Sungmin pushed him away, muttering “I don’t want it to be over.”


	14. Chapter 14

          Once Donghae got Sungmin admitted into one of the rooms, he joined Seunghyun who was currently waiting in Yesung’s room. “How’s your cousin?” Seunghyun wondered.

          “He’s shaken up pretty badly, but hopefully the doctors will give him something to help him rest,” Donghae informed. “Any updates on Yesung?”

          “Yeah the doctors said there’s something they need to tell us when Yesung wakes up,” Seunghyun said. “Changmin and Siwon went down the hall to interview Kim Ryeowook and ask him about the whole ordeal.”

          Donghae and Seunghyun turned to see Yesung groan as he opened his eyes and looked up at the detectives. “How you feeling?” Donghae inquired.

          “I don’t know,” Yesung replied. “I don’t even know how I got here.”

          “You passed out from the fire,” Donghae reminded.                

          “What fire?” Yesung asked with a confused expression on his face.

          “Go get the doctor,” Donghae requested. Seunghyun nodded before exiting the room. “Yesung, Kyuhyun set the warehouse on fire and tried to burn Ryeowook alive in it.”

          “No he didn’t, he would never do that to me, we’re best friends. Plus don’t you think I’d remember,” Yesung retorted. “Ryeowook is safe, and how do you even know about him, or Kyuhyun for that matter?”

          Seunghyun returned with the doctor. “What’s going on, why can’t he remember?” Donghae questioned. “He recognizes me but can’t recall what just happened.”

          “Judging by the results of his CAT scan, because of the head injury he sustained, Mr. Kim is suffering from retrograde amnesia,” the doctor stated.

          “What the hell does that mean?” Seunghyun asked.

          “It means that he’s forgotten nearly everything that happened up to the point of injury,” the doctor explained. “He may have only forgotten a few hours of memory, or he may have forgotten months, every case is different. Over time, these memories will return to him, or if something triggers specific memories, then they may all return at once. As strange as it seems, RA sufferers can usually remember people, just not events.”

          “Can he still be prosecuted?” a voice asked from the doorway.

          Donghae and Seunghyun turned to see a young woman in a suit, carrying a black briefcase, standing there. “I’m sorry who are you?” the doctor inquired.

          “Lee Ji-eun, Prosecutor; I am the acting DA who will be trying Mr. Kim for his crimes,” the woman introduced. “Now for the second time, can he still be prosecuted?”

          “He’s got retrograde amnesia, he can’t –” Donghae stopped before Ji-eun held her hand up.

          “Officer was I talking to you? Do you have the medical degree?” she snapped.

          Donghae and Seunghyun blinked and looked at one another before Ji-eun turned to the doctor. “The patient is suffering from retrograde amnesia, so he might not be able to remember what did,” the doctor stated.

          “Yesung, what’s the last thing you remember?” Donghae inquired, looking at the raven haired Korean.

          Thinking for a moment, Yesung said “Ryeowook showed me his scars, scars that that son of a bitch put on him.”

          Watching the heart machine begin to increase its rate, Donghae replied “Yesung, calm down, Ryeowook’s safe. When did he show you those scars?”

          “A couple of days ago,” Yesung stated.

          “Fuck,” Donghae muttered under his breath before he turned to Seunghyun. “He doesn’t remember giving us the confession.”

          “Then make him remember,” Ji-eun ordered.

          “That’s not advised, if you try to force remembrance, he could remember wrong details or even false events,” the doctor informed.

          “Thank you doctor, don’t need your assistance any longer,” Ji-eun brushed off, causing the doctor to exit the room. She looked at Donghae and Seunghyun and crossed her arms. “Do whatever you have to, but make him remember.”

          “Now you wait just a fucking minute –” Donghae started.

          “Do not speak to me like that detective, or I will have you thrown off the case, and find another officer who will do what I request,” Ji-eun threatened. “Now Mr. Kim has participated in brutal, unforgivable acts, and I am going to prosecute him. I want him arrested by the end of the day; and get me the reports from the surviving victims, as well as a copy of his taped confession.”

          After Ji-eun left the room, Seunghyun muttered “Man, what a bitch.”

          “No kidding,” Donghae agreed.

          Handcuffing one of Yesung’s wrists to the bed rail, Donghae heard Yesung ask “What’s going on?”

          “This is just for safety reasons Yesung,” Donghae responded.

          “I have to see Ryeowook, I have to check on him,” Yesung insisted as he tried to get up.

          Donghae and Seunghyun stopped him before Donghae offered “I’ll bring him to you in a little while.”

          “You know where he is?” Yesung inquired with a confused expression.

          “Yes, he’s here in the hospital, looking for you because he’s worried,” Donghae slowly lied.

          “I don’t want him to worry,” Yesung said.

          “We’ll go talk to him and bring him up to you,” Donghae promised before he and Seunghyun stepped out of the room.

          “Why the fuck did you tell him that? The last thing the victim needs, is to see his kidnapper,” Seunghyun reminded.

          “Maybe seeing Ryeowook will help jog Yesung’s memory naturally,” Donghae suggested. “But we need to wait until Ryeowook’s been evaluated by the doctors.”

          The two joined Changmin and Siwon, who were still currently interviewing Ryeowook. “Is Yesung okay?” Ryeowook asked, once he saw Donghae.

          “He’s fine, he’s just got retrograde amnesia,” Donghae informed.

          “He’s got what?” Changmin and Siwon inquired together.

          “Yesung doesn’t remember anything that happened over the past few days. The last thing he remembers is looking at scars on Ryeowook’s body,” Donghae explained.

          “Yesung remembers me?” Ryeowook asked in a hopeful tone. “He was so gentle with my body, and so protective.”

          “Did he violate you?” Siwon questioned.

          “Oh God no, he knew about the abuse that my boyfriend had done to me, and promised he wouldn’t touch me until I was ready,” Ryeowook defended.

          “Did that prosecutor bitch come in here?” Seunghyun questioned.

          “Oh yeah, Lee Ji-eun, yeah she was in here,” Changmin confirmed. “She wants Ryeowook to testify in court against Yesung for kidnapping him.”

          “I’m not gonna do it,” Ryeowook stated. “I’m not gonna betray Yesung like that. All he ever did was protect me and want to keep me safe; he had good intentions.”

          “Ryeowook, Yesung helped Kyuhyun torture and murder almost six people; he’s not the good person you think he is,” Siwon informed.

          “B-but he loves me, he said so; I don’t believe you,” Ryeowook argued as tears welled in the brunette’s eyes. “I wanna see him, please, I want Yesung.” Ryeowook climbed out of bed and started for the door before the detectives stopped him.

          “Are you sure?” Donghae asked. Ryeowook nodded. “Seunghyun, take Ryeowook to Yesung’s room, but keep an eye on him.” The other detective agreed and escorted Ryeowook down the hall.

          “What the fuck is going on here, first Sungmin reacted this way and now –” Changmin started.

          “Whoa, whoa, what do you mean Sungmin acted this way?” Donghae interrupted.

          “When we asked Sungmin about Kyuhyun, he said the exact same thing that Ryeowook said about Yesung; that he loved him, and was only trying to be with him,” Changmin explained.

          “The doctors here think that both Sungmin and Ryeowook are experiencing severe Stockholm Syndrome,” Siwon added. “They said it’s going to take months, or even years before psychologically they’re okay again, because of what they saw and experienced. The doctors are requiring both of them to see a psychiatrist following their release from the hospital.”

          “Stockholm Syndrome? That’s not possible, they were only held hostage for three or four days,” Donghae rejected.

          “Donghae, it can happen as soon as twelve hours, plus from what they’ve both said, Kyuhyun and Yesung treated them well,” Changmin informed. Donghae sighed to himself.

          “Is Sungmin awake?” he wondered.

          “No, he was a little hysteric so they gave him some drugs to let him sleep for a while,” Siwon responded.

          Pulling out his phone, Donghae saw the missed call from the Nurse’s Desk on the third floor he’d received about five minutes prior, realized the time, and quickly hurried out of the room, without explaining to his fellow officers what he was doing. He rushed to the elevator and pressed the three on wall before riding down to the third floor. As soon as he stepped off the elevator, he heard Hyukjae’s voice yell “No, don’t do it yet, he’s not here! Don’t do it yet! I need Donghae here!”

          “Mr. Lee, we have to move forward with the procedure; Detective Lee will be here when he’s available, we have to take these off now,” the doctors said, as the nurses tried to calm the blonde’s flailing.

          Hyukjae gave up when he felt the bandages be unraveled from around his eyes and could see some of the florescent light through his eyelids. “Now Mr. Lee, slowly open your eyes, they might burn a little, but they will adjust,” another doctor instructed.

          Hyukjae slowly opened up his eyes, feeling the white light pierce his irises violently. He immediately closed his eyes before trying again, opening his eyes to see the blurry room around him. Hyukjae could make out only the five doctors around him, before he was given a pair of thick rimmed glasses. Before putting them on, Hyukjae saw someone standing in the doorway of his room. The blonde began getting up, tearing out his IV, before the nurses stopped him. “Don’t touch me, let me get up,” Hyukjae insisted as he pushed himself out of the bed, stumbling blindly over to the doorway.

          Having not walked on his legs for almost a week, Hyukjae was almost to the door before his knees buckled and he tumbled forward. Before hitting the ground, a pair of strong arms caught the fragile blonde’s body and helped him stand. Hyukjae put the glasses on and saw Donghae’s face clearly. Smiling, Hyukjae let tears well in his eyes, as he raised a shaky hand to Donghae’s face. “It’s you,” he whispered.

          Donghae returned the smile and nodded, “Yes, it’s me Hyukjae.”

          The blonde wrapped his unbroken arm around Donghae, as Donghae slipped his arms around Hyukjae’s frame, holding the blonde in a gentle embrace. “Thank you for coming,” Hyukjae muttered through tears.

          Donghae held back tears of his own as he whispered “Kyuhyun is gone Hyukjae, you’re safe now, you don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

          Hyukjae’s body began to tremble as he sobbed against Donghae’s shoulder. The detective remained frozen in his spot as he held Hyukjae tightly, shushing the crying blonde. A few moments later, Donghae helped Hyukjae back to his bed before Hyukjae asked “Did you get your cousin back?”

          “Yes, I managed to save him and another hostage,” Donghae informed.

          “I knew you would,” Hyukjae replied, smiling as he took Donghae’s hand in his own.

          “I couldn’t have done it without your help Hyukjae; you remembering details the way you did, it really helped us out, and we thank you for that, _I_ thank you for that,” Donghae responded, squeezing Hyukjae’s hand. “I need to go check on my cousin, but I’ll be back later.”

          “Don’t leave, please, I just want to look at you for a little while longer,” Hyukjae begged.

          Donghae smiled before standing up. “I’ll be back Hyukjae, and I’ll have dinner with you, and you can look at me as much as you want, alright?” he whispered, leaning forward and placing a chaste kiss on Hyukjae’s forehead.

          “Okay,” Hyukjae replied, with a grin across his lips.

          Donghae returned back up to the floor he was on earlier and saw Ryeowook curled up next to Yesung in Yesung’s hospital bed. Yesung was gently running a hand up and down Ryeowook’s back, putting the brunette to sleep, as Seunghyun kept a close eye on them. Entering Sungmin’s room, Donghae found his cousin was finally awake, staring blankly out of the window. “How’re you feeling?”

          “Where’s Kyuhyun?” Sungmin emotionlessly inquired.

          “He’s dead Sungmin, you know that, you watched him get killed,” Donghae slowly reminded, walking over to Sungmin’s bed.

          “I really wanna see him Donghae,” Sungmin whispered, coiling up into the fetal position.

          “Sungmin, he was psychopath who murdered and raped six people,” Donghae reminded.

          “I don’t care!” Sungmin screamed before tears dripped onto his pillow as he whispered, “He still loved me.”

          “No Sungmin, he loved Jaemin, not you,” Donghae said.

          “But what if I’m his reincarnation, and I’m supposed to be with Kyuhyun to make him happy?” Sungmin wondered.

          “Sungmin, be serious,” Donghae firmly stated.

          “I am being serious Donghae,” the blonde replied as he sat up. “He promised to take care of me, and love me, and the way he touched me –”

          “Did he rape you?” Donghae muttered.

          “I wanted to be with him,” Sungmin said.

          “Oh my God,” Donghae responded as he covered his eyes with a hand.

          “I’m his Minnie, I’ve accepted it Donghae, why can’t you? Why couldn’t you have just let us be happy together?” Sungmin demanded.

          Donghae now realized just how serious Sungmin and Ryeowook’s Stockholm Syndrome was; they were both madly in love with Kyuhyun and Yesung. “He’s not gonna hurt you anymore Sungmin,” Donghae mumbled.

          “Kyuhyun never hurt me,” Sungmin replied as he curled up once more in his bed.

          The next morning, after returning to the 18th Precinct, Kangin asked “How did everything go at the hospital?”

          “Ryeowook and Sungmin are going to be discharged tomorrow, and given mandatory therapy, and Yesung was arrested for being a criminal accomplice, murder, acts against human rights, and a bunch of other jargon that DA listed off,” Donghae explained.

          “So I guess now we’re getting sent back to the 16th Precinct?” Seunghyun asked.

          “Not quite,” Kangin stated, surprising the four detectives. “I’m pleased to inform you that Detective Seunghyun has been cleared of all drug charges; they discovered Yesung’s DNA on it in the lab. It’s not much, but it was enough to hold him on drug possession.”

          “See, told you guys I was being framed,” Seunghyun remarked.

          “I never doubted you,” Changmin replied.

          Laughing, Seunghyun said “I know Changmin, you’re a good partner like that.”

          “So when are we getting sent back to our precinct?” Changmin questioned curiously.

          “You’re already at your precinct,” Kangin informed. “As of today, you and Officer Seunghyun are officially part of the 18th Precinct. The Commissioner, the Mayor, and several other political figures were thrilled to hear that you’d all finally caught the Gangnam murderer, and because of that, they suggested you four not be split up any time soon.”

          “So they’re stuck here now?” Siwon asked.

          Seunghyun draped an arm around Siwon’s shoulders and smirked “Admit it, I’ve grown on you.”

          “Yes, like a rash,” Siwon agreed sarcastically, with a grin across his lips.

          “Better than nothing I suppose,” Seunghyun replied.

          “You four are now going to be a subunit within this Precinct, and will be called the Elite Legal Force, specializing in high profile murder/kidnapping cases like with this one,” Kangin explained. “Here are the patches for your shirts.”

          Siwon, Donghae, Seunghyun, and Changmin all took a patch, with the abbreviation E.L.F. on it. “Now this is badass,” Seunghyun admitted.

          “I like the name, kinda catchy,” Donghae agreed.

          “Go get some rest, tomorrow you four have a new case to start on,” Kangin instructed.

          “Yes sir,” the four detectives replied in unison.


	15. Chapter 15

          Donghae entered the Gangnam Emergency Hospital and stepped onto the elevator. His other fellow detectives had opted to go back to their apartments to rest, but Donghae chose to go back to the hospital to check on a couple of people. First, he rode up to the sixth floor and peered into Sungmin’s room. He saw the blonde curled up under the blanket on his bed, and figured Sungmin was finally resting. Wanting his cousin to sleep, Donghae turned and headed back down to the third floor. “He’s been asking for you ever since you left, Detective Lee,” the nurse at the desk told him.

          The brunette smiled before thanking the nurse. Entering Hyukjae’s room, Donghae found Hyukjae still sitting up in his bed, watching TV. Hyukjae smiled when he saw Donghae and asked “What are you doing back so soon?”

          Donghae walked over to sit down next to the bed and informed “The Captain gave us the night off, so I just came by to check on you and my cousin.”

          “Well thank you for that Donghae,” Hyukjae replied with a grin as he adjusted his new glasses.

          Looking at the blonde for a minute, Donghae inquired “Have the doctors said when you’ll be able to go home yet?”

          “No, they’re probably going to keep me here until I physically recover and then transfer me to their psych ward until I mentally am better,” Hyukjae said.

          “What do you mean?” Donghae asked.

          “The doctors said I have severe PTSD, and am going to need constant help adjusting to everything around me, so that one day I can hopefully get back to normality. I have no family, so no one besides the nurses and doctors will be able to look after me,” Hyukjae explained, lowering his head. “I have no one, Donghae.”

          “Yes you do,” Donghae muttered after a silent moment passed between the two Korean men.

          Hyukjae turned and looked at him. “What?” he responded in a quiet tone.

          Donghae reached out and gently took Hyukjae’s hand before offering “Come stay with me; I’ll take care of you, if you want me to.”

          The blonde shook his head, lowering it once more. “I could never ask that of you,” Hyukjae mumbled quietly.

          “Hyukjae, it’s –” Donghae started, before the blonde’s head shot up and looked at him.

          “Donghae, you don’t understand, I have night terrors now, I’m jumpy around loud noises, fast motions scare me, I have to take several different medicines three times a day, as well as ointments for my burns and scars, and I don’t even have the strength to bathe myself; I’m, I’m just gonna burden you, and you don’t need that,” Hyukjae whispered as tears rolled down his cheeks. “Especially with your cousin being traumatized too.”

          “Hyukjae,” Donghae muttered, gently squeezing his hand. “If I thought you were gonna be a burden, I wouldn’t have offered. I’ve got vacation and sick time piled up, so if you ever have rough days, I’ll be able to take the day off and stay with you. And Sungmin will be fine; once I get him into his therapy and on some medication, he should start his own healing process.”

          The blonde closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the pillow. “Donghae,” he cried quietly.

          Donghae slowly reached his hand forward and brushed his fingertips lightly across Hyukjae’s bangs, shushing the blonde’s tears gently. “I promised you I would be here to help you if you needed me,” Donghae reminded. “Not only is it my job as an officer, but also because, I don’t want you to go through this alone. After everything you’ve suffered, you deserve to be taken care of, to have someone be there for you, to have someone protect you.”

          Hyukjae locked eyes with Donghae as he held the brunette’s hand against his face. “I want that person to be you, more than anything else in the world,” the blonde whispered.

          Smiling, Donghae leaned over and kissed Hyukjae’s forehead once more, replying “We’ll talk to the doctors in the morning, for now, you need your rest.”

          “So do you,” Hyukjae reminded. “Stay with me Donghae.”

          “I will,” Donghae promised before moving the couch closer to the bed once again. He lie down on the cushions and felt Hyukjae’s hand rest on top of his own, as the two interlaced their fingers together, falling asleep for the night.

          In the middle of the night, Donghae awoke to the sound of whimpering coming from Hyukjae’s bed. Sitting up on the couch, Donghae turned on a light and saw the blonde beginning to thrash around on his bed, screaming “No, no, get off me, no! Please, get off me! Just let me go, please just let me go!”

          Donghae immediately jumped up and grabbed Hyukjae’s shoulders, saying “Hyukjae, Hyukjae it’s alright, wake up, it’s alright now.”

          The blonde’s flailing continued, as his unbroken arm unintentionally smacked Donghae across the mouth. Donghae groaned as he felt the coppery taste of blood on his tongue, but knew that would have to wait. As he attempted to calm Hyukjae down, two nurses entered the room, one holding a syringe. “Detective Lee, we need you to stand back so we can administer some medicine,” one requested.

          “Wait, please, let me see if I can calm him down,” Donghae begged, holding his palm up to the nurses. Turning back to Hyukjae, Donghae placed both hands on the blonde’s face, holding his head still in his firm, yet gentle grasp. Hyukjae seemed to calm down some just from that action alone, so Donghae whispered “Hyukjae, look at me; Hyukjae I want to see your eyes.”

          Slowly, Hyukjae’s body relaxed as the blonde opened his eyes and looked at the blurry outline of Donghae before him. He reached for his glasses and slipped them on, before seeing the brunette detective. Donghae smiled and stroked his fingertips across Hyukjae’s cheek gently, as Hyukjae smiled back, before the blonde noticed Donghae’s lip was bleeding. He reached his fingers up to touch the wound, muttering “Did I do that to you?”

          “It’s alright, it doesn’t hurt,” Donghae replied.

          Lowering his head against Donghae’s shoulder, Hyukjae began to weep quietly, saying “I’m so sorry Donghae.”

          The brunette gently wrapped his arms around Hyukjae and shushed him again, feeling his body tremble in his comforting embrace. “Everything’s alright now, it was just a bad dream,” Donghae promised as he kept repeating those phrases to the blonde, until Hyukjae’s crying ceased. Donghae looked over, grabbed a plastic bottle off the table, and quickly unscrewed the lid, gently muttering “Here, drink some water.”

          Hyukjae greedily drank down the clear, cool liquid from the bottle before gasping for breath. Donghae shushed him, cradling the distraught blonde in his arms as Hyukjae gulped down air. “Thank you Donghae,” Hyukjae whispered into the detective’s neck.

          Donghae watched as one of the nurses walked over to Hyukjae’s insulin bag and injected a liquid into it. “This is something that should help him go back to sleep, but you seem to have handled his terrors well,” she noticed. “Have you had a situation like this before?”

          “No, he is my first one,” Donghae responded as he gently lie Hyukjae back down on the bed, removed his glasses, and covered him up with the blanket.

          “Here is something to put on the cut on your lip,” the other nurse offered, handing Donghae a small tube of ointment. “You probably didn’t expect the flailing, did you?”

          “No, I’ve never seen someone do that in their sleep before; it’s almost terrifying to think about what’s going through his mind,” Donghae replied, applying the medicine to his busted lip. “But given what he’s experienced and survived, it’s heartbreaking. Hyukjae experiences that every night?”

          “Yes, at least once or twice a night,” a nurse confirmed. “He always screams the same thing, wanting someone off of him, to let him go, and when he wakes up, he’ll call to you for help.”

           “Every time?” Donghae asked.

          The nurses nodded. “Every time he wakes up, he requests you.”

          “I have to say Detective Lee, this is the fastest he’s ever calmed down after a night terror,” one of the nurses informed. “Usually, it takes Mr. Lee about ten minutes to fully relax, but you seemed to do it without any medical help in about five minutes. There’s something about you that’s comforting to him.”

          Donghae looked at Hyukjae, currently resting peacefully, before turning back to the nurses. “I want to take care of him when he’s released,” he stated.

          “Detective Lee –” one of the nurses began.

          “No, please listen, I know he’s been through a lot, but he has no one else, and I don’t want him to suffer through this alone. I promised him that I would be here for him and help him, and I am going to help him. I know it’ll be a lot of work and dedication, but maybe I’m what he needs right now; you said it yourself, there’s something about me that comforts him. Please let me try,” Donghae requested.

          “It is rare that we release a trauma patient to someone who is not a blood relative or doctor, but given the circumstances, we can recommend his release to you to his doctors in the morning,” a nurse said after a moment of silence.

          “Given what we’ve just witnessed, it’s obvious he’s developed an emotional bond with you, and being in your care might help him heal faster,” the other nurse added. “But yes Detective Lee, we will recommend Lee Hyukjae be released into your custody.”

          Donghae smiled. “Thank you,” he muttered before the two nurses left. The brunette sat down next to Hyukjae on his bed and gently stroked his blonde hair. He watched Hyukjae sleep for a few minutes before standing up to return to the couch next to the bed. Before sitting down, Donghae pressed a gentle kiss to Hyukjae’s temple and whispered “I’ll be right here when you need me.”

          A few hours later, Donghae was awoke by the sounds of nurses running up and down the halls, calling for security. The brunette detective sat up and stepped out into the hallway before asking one of the nurses, “What’s going on?”

          “Lee Sungmin is gone,” she informed.

          “What, what the hell do you mean he’s gone?” Donghae demanded. “Why is my cousin missing?”

          “Detective Lee, please calm down,” another nurse requested.

          “No, tell me how the fuck he could’ve gone missing from a hospital!” Donghae yelled.

          “We’ve got our security looking into it,” a nurse said.

          “I wanna see the cameras,” Donghae replied as a security officer approached them.

          “Right this way,” he directed, leading Donghae over to the security desk where a wall of monitors was displayed.

          Running the feedback on the cameras that were on Sungmin’s floor, Donghae watched as Sungmin awoke about two hours ago, and slipped his clothes back on before stepping out of his room quietly sneaking past a nurse who had her back turned. Donghae then observed Sungmin ride down the elevator to the first floor and slide past the vacant security desk and out of the hospital. “This is unbelievable,” Donghae muttered to himself. “There’s no telling where he’s at now.”

          “We could put out an APB to the surrounding precincts and hospitals and see if they will be on the lookout,” the security officer suggested.

          “Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Donghae agreed. “I’m gonna go out and try to look for him.”

          After looking through the city of Gangnam for over an hour, Donghae received a call. “Is this Detective Lee Donghae?” the voice asked.

          “Yes, who is this?” Donghae responded.

          “I’m Officer Kang from the 42nd Precinct in Incheon, we received your APB and have your cousin Lee Sungmin here; we picked him up about ten minutes ago wandering the streets,” the officer informed.

          “Incheon?” Donghae repeated. What the hell could he be doing there; Donghae thought to himself.

          “Yes, we’ll keep him here until you arrive to get him,” the officer promised.

          “Alright thank you, I’m on my way,” Donghae replied before hanging up. After arriving at the 42nd Precinct, Donghae rushed inside and found Sungmin sitting in a chair, still looking out of it. “Sungmin, what are you doing? Why the hell did you leave the hospital?”

          Sungmin didn’t say anything, instead just lowered his head and cried. Donghae sat down next to his cousin and shushed him gently. “I wanna go home,” Sungmin cried. “Please Donghae.”

          Donghae sighed. “If I take you back to the apartment, do you promise you’ll stay there, and then in the morning, come back to the hospital with me so we can get you some medicine?” Sungmin slowly nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”

          Opening up the apartment door, Sungmin walked inside and looked around, having not been in his own home for almost a week now. “Are you gonna tell me why you left the hospital and scared the fuck out of me like that?” Donghae asked.

          “You wouldn’t understand Donghae,” Sungmin muttered as he walked towards their bedroom.

          “Sungmin,” Donghae called as he hurried after his cousin. The two looked at one another before he continued “You know he’s gone right? You watched him get shot and fall over a bridge to his death. He’s not coming back.”

          Tears spilled from Sungmin’s eyes as he whispered “He has to, he promised me we’d be together.”

          “Kyuhyun manipulated you Sungmin, he told you things you wanted to hear, he brainwashed you to gain your trust so he could control you,” Donghae explained. “That’s what psychopaths do. He never loved you Sungmin, he loved who he thought you were.”

          Sungmin shook his head and cried harder. “Stop saying that,” the blonde muttered. “He loves me Donghae.”

          Donghae sighed before putting his cousin to bed. “Try to rest and get your mind off him. Maybe tomorrow you’ll feel better,” he encouraged before lying down on his own bed.

          Early the next morning, Donghae and Sungmin returned to the Gangnam Emergency Hospital. Donghae sat with Sungmin as the doctor prescribed him an antidepressant medication and set him up with a mandatory psychiatrist three times a week. “You have to see him three times, but if you need more sessions, he can schedule them for you,” the doctor informed. “Take one pill in the morning when you wake up and it should last you all day. I’m also requesting a three month checkup period for the first year of your recovery to see your progress Mr. Lee.”

          “What about Ryeowook?” Sungmin wondered.

          “Mr. Kim is going to receive the same treatment as you, so if you need each other for support, I see no reason why you can’t do your therapy together,” the doctor stated. “And Detective Lee, while you’re here, two nurses told me that you are requesting to have Lee Hyukjae released into your custody until he is emotionally and physically able bodied to care for himself?”

          “Yes sir,” Donghae replied.

          “Are you absolutely sure detective? Taking care of two emotionally traumatized individuals by yourself seems like a lot,” the doctor reminded.

          “If I wasn’t sure, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now,” Donghae promised. “I can take of Hyukjae, and I know that once Sungmin starts seeing his psychiatrist, he’ll start to feel better. If things start to get out of hand, then I’ll request to have a nurse visit daily to help out, but I’m at least going to try.”

          “Very well, it seems that Lee Hyukjae is being placed in good hands,” the doctor noted. “Here are the six medications he needs; two are pills to be taken orally each day, two are ointments to be applied to his burns and contusions each day, he has eye drops to be administered no more than three times a day, and finally in case of an incontrollable night terror, we have included small syringes to help with sedation. Mr. Lee will need to come back at least twice a week for physical therapy until his arm his healed, and one other time to have a psych evaluation. Do you think you can handle that Detective Lee?”

          “Yes,” Donghae stated.

          “Alright then, please sign here acknowledging that you accept responsibility for him, and we will get Lee Hyukjae ready to leave,” the doctor requested, handing Donghae a pen, which Donghae took, and signed the document in front of him.

          Afterwards, Donghae took Sungmin out to the front of the hospital and requested “Go home and take one of the pills that the doctor gave you; I’m gonna get Hyukjae and we should be back in about an hour.”

          “Okay,” Sungmin muttered as Donghae opened up a taxi door and helped his cousin inside.

          When Sungmin’s taxi pulled away, Donghae returned back inside and hurried up to Hyukjae’s room. Opening the door, Hyukjae was awake, holding out his arm to Donghae, signaling he wanted the detective. The brunette approached Hyukjae and wrapped his arms around the blonde, feeling Hyukjae tremble against him. “I woke up and you were gone,” he whispered. “Is everything alright?”

          “Yes, don’t worry, everything’s fine,” Donghae promised, placing his hands on Hyukjae’s face. “The doctor has released you, and I’m gonna take you home with me now.” Hyukjae and Donghae smiled at one another before Donghae helped Hyukjae stand up and get ready.

          Entering the apartment, Hyukjae looked around and said “This is nice Donghae, much nicer than my place.”

          Donghae grinned before replying “Thanks, it’s not much, but on an officer’s salary, it’s livable. Sungmin and I only have one bedroom, so I made you up a nice bed here in the living room.”

          “This will be perfect, thank you Donghae,” Hyukjae responded as he lay down on the makeshift bed.

          Before Donghae could say anything else, his cell phone rang. “One second, it’s the Captain,” Donghae informed. “Hello?”

          “Donghae, Prosecutor Lee is having Yesung arraigned in the morning around eleven, and she is demanding that you, Sungmin, and Kim Ryeowook attend,” Kangin explained.

          “Sir, I just got Sungmin and Hyukjae home,” Donghae said.

          “I know, but she’s adamant about you all being there; have you had any updates on Kim Ryeowook?” Kangin inquired.

          “The doctor was planning on releasing him today and sending him and Sungmin both to a therapist and prescribed them both antidepressants,” Donghae informed.

          “After what they’ve been through, I hope it’s enough for them,” Kangin replied.

          “I do too,” Donghae sighed. “Alright Captain, I will try and have Sungmin at the court house tomorrow morning.”

          “Good, and I’ll have an officer sent over to Kim Ryeowook’s location and have him brought in the morning,” Kangin decided. “I don’t know what this prosecutor has on her mind, but we’ll just have to see.”

          “Yes sir,” Donghae responded before hanging up.

          “Everything okay?” Hyukjae wondered, noticing Donghae’s expression.

          Donghae smiled and placed his hands on Hyukjae’s face. “Yes, everything’s good,” he promised, planting a light kiss on Hyukjae’s forehead.

          In the middle of the night, Donghae was awaken from his sleep by the sound of Hyukjae screaming from the living room. “What’s going on?” Sungmin asked as he sat up in his bed.

          “Hyukjae’s having a night terror,” Donghae quickly said as he rushed into the living room. Sungmin watched from the doorway of the room as Donghae gently woke up Hyukjae and consoled him, shushing him quietly and wrapping his arms around the distraught blonde. He lifted a glass to Hyukjae’s lips and watched him drink down the cool water. “It’s okay, you’re safe, it’s okay,” Donghae kept repeating as he cradled the blonde close. Sungmin turned back to the bedroom and returned to sleep for the night. Donghae brushed his fingers through Hyukjae’s hair before helping him lie back down.

          As Donghae moved to get up, Hyukjae reached up and grabbed his hand. “Please stay with me,” Hyukjae requested. “Just until I fall asleep.”

          “Are you sure I won’t make you uncomfortable?” Donghae asked. Hyukjae shook his head before Donghae hesitantly lie down next to the blonde. The two looked at one another in the darkness of the apartment, with only the lights of the city softly illuminating the room. Slowly, Hyukjae closed his eyes as Donghae placed a hand on his face and stroked his cheek gently. Just feeling Donghae’s touch was enough to calm Hyukjae down and send him back to sleep. Donghae watched Hyukjae sleep for a few minutes, lightly leaning his forehead against the blonde’s. Without catching himself, Donghae felt his eyes grow heavy as he too fell asleep, next to Hyukjae.

          The next morning, Donghae, Sungmin, and Ryeowook sat down in the observer’s area in the back of the courtroom. They watched as Ji-eun walked through the doors and over to her side of the room, placing papers on her podium. Moments later, Yesung was escorted in with his defender and seated on the opposite side. “I hope he’s alright,” Ryeowook muttered under his breath.

          “He’ll be fine,” Sungmin encouraged.

          Suddenly, they heard a court officer announce “Docket ending 13-15, People of the city of Gangnam versus Kim Jong-woon; the charges are as listed, eight counts of kidnapping, six counts of torture in the first degree, five counts of murder in the first degree, tampering with police proceedings, and one count of drug possession.”

          “How did they find out my real name?” Yesung muttered to his lawyer.

          The officer handed the file to the Judge before the Judge responded “I’ll hear the People on bail.”

          “We are requesting remand your Honor, given the charges against Mr. Kim,” Ji-eun stated.

          “That’s pretty hefty considering it’s his first offense, and the Prosecution has no physical evidence against my client,” the Defense argued.

          “We have Mr. Kim’s confession on tape,” Ji-eun informed.

          “Which he does not recall; your Honor, Mr. Kim suffered a blow to the head, to which doctors diagnosed him with retrograde amnesia, and therefore cannot fully comprehend any questioning the Prosecution would give,” the Defense rebutted.

          “Counselor?” the Judge doubtfully asked, turning towards Ji-eun.

          “We also have three surviving witnesses, two of which are in the courtroom today, who can testify to what this man helped do to them. He helped kidnap, rape, and torture them,” Ji-eun stated.

          “I never raped anyone, and I sure as Hell would never hurt Ryeowook like that,” Yesung growled as he stood up, before his attorney helped coax him to sit back down.

          The Judge frustratingly banged the gavel a few times before warning “Counselor, keep your client under control; no more outbursts or I will have him removed.” Donghae glanced over at Ryeowook to see the brunette crying softly as his eyes were glued to Yesung. “Despite the Prosecution’s lack of physical evidence, these are serious charges against the accused; I am granting the Prosecution’s request for remand, only on the condition that you have your witnesses ready at trial Counselor Lee. The defendant is hereby remanded to Gangnam Jail until trial date.” After the gavel was slammed another time, Yesung was stood up by the court officers and escorted out. Before he left, Yesung turned and saw Ryeowook stand up as the two locked eyes momentarily.

          Donghae, Sungmin, and Ryeowook were then approached by Ji-eun. “I’m going to need you two to testify,” she said to Sungmin and Ryeowook.

          “No, I won’t do that to him,” Ryeowook denied.

          “You don’t have a choice; I can subpoena you and force you to testify,” Ji-eun threatened.

          “Why are you doing this? Why can’t you just leave him alone?!” Ryeowook demanded before running out of the courtroom, with Sungmin following after.

          “Can you not see that he’s traumatized?” Donghae asked.

          “Yes, and that will make him a sympathetic witness to which a jury will connect with,” Ji-eun emotionlessly replied. “And get me pictures of Lee Hyukjae’s injuries from the doctor to use as evidence.”

          “You are not going to parade him around the courtroom like he’s some sideshow freak,” Donghae growled under his breath. “He’s been through enough, do you not care about his dignity and his mental health?”

          “I care about putting a murderer away for life, I would figure you would want the same, considering all that happened,” Ji-eun responded. “Detective Lee I am going to do whatever is necessary to put Mr. Kim away for a long time, if the victims have to momentarily relive what happened, I think it’ll be worth it.”

          “You really are a bitch,” Donghae sighed before turning to find his cousin and Ryeowook.

          “Maybe so, but that’s how you put criminals away, having tough skin,” Ji-eun mumbled to herself.

          _*Three weeks later*_

          “Go right down there to cubicle two,” an officer instructed to Yesung.

          The raven haired Korean slowly walked to the correct cubicle and sat down in a seat before gazing across through the bulletproof glass to see Ryeowook sitting on the other side, holding a connected phone. Yesung quickly picked up the phone on his end and asked “Ryeowook, what are you doing here?”

          “I came to see you of course, I’m scared because the trial starts tomorrow and the Prosecutor is making me testify against you, but I don’t want to Yesung; I don’t want to say anything bad about you,” Ryeowook cried as he reached up and placed a hand on the glass.

          “It’s okay Ryeowook,” Yesung gently replied as he pressed his own hand to the glass.

          “I wish you weren’t in there, I wish you were out here with me, I miss you,” Ryeowook whispered.

          Yesung shushed Ryeowook softly, promising “Everything will be alright.”

          “Will it though?” Ryeowook wondered. “The doctors are making me take these antidepressants, and I have to see a therapist three times a week; this wouldn’t have had to happen if they hadn’t separated us.”

          “Ryeowook, look at me,” Yesung gently requested. The brunette’s watery eyes gazed into Yesung’s before the raven haired Korean continued “No matter what happens, I don’t regret anything; I don’t regret meeting you or rescuing you, or getting rid of your abuser. I don’t regret taking you away, I don’t regret falling for you; the only thing I do regret, is not being there for you now; but tomorrow, if things work in our favor, maybe we can be together again.”

          “I hope so,” Ryeowook whispered, pressing his hand harder against the glass.

          “I’ve gotta go now, but I’ll see you in the morning,” Yesung promised as they both stood up.

          “I’ll look for you,” Ryeowook muttered.

          “And I’ll be looking for you,” Yesung echoed as the two leaned their foreheads against the glass for a moment, before Yesung was escorted back to his cell.

          About an hour later, an officer called “Kim Jong-woon, you have a visitor.”

          “I guess Ryeowook forgot to tell me something,” Yesung figured as he was led back to the communication area.

          “Second cubicle,” the officer stated, before Yesung walked back to the same place he previously was just at.

          Sitting down, he picked up the phone before saying “Ryeowook, I told –” Yesung froze as his eyes glanced up at the person sitting across the glass from him. “What are you doing here? They told me you were killed.”

          There, sitting across the way, was Cho Kyuhyun, alive and well. “Not dead, just wounded,” he said. “I heard through the grapevine that you got amnesia.”

          “Yeah, that’s the bitch of it, I can’t remember anything; last thing I recall is seeing scars that Ryeowook had on his stomach, everything afterwards is a blur. The next thing I remember is waking up in a hospital room,” Yesung explained.

          A smile appeared across Kyuhyun’s lips, knowing that with Yesung not remembering certain things that had happened, that he could still be of some use to Kyuhyun. “Do you still remember working at the precinct?” Kyuhyun inquired.

          “Oh yeah, I remember all of that, I still remember my friends there too,” Yesung confirmed.

          “Excellent,” Kyuhyun replied.

          “Why do you ask?” Yesung wondered.

          “Because you and I have unfinished business to attend to,” Kyuhyun stated. “I want those cops to pay for what they did to us, especially the brunette; they took our lovers, they shot me, they’re prosecuting you; Yesung they’re not your friends, they betrayed you.”

          Yesung sat there and pondered everything Kyuhyun was saying, and began to believe it. “What do we do?” Yesung asked.

          Another evil grin appeared on Kyuhyun’s mouth as he said “We’re gonna get our lovers back, and we’re gonna fucking kill any cop that stands in our way.”

          Yesung nodded. “Okay, I’m in,” Yesung agreed. “But first, I have to get out of here.”

          Kyuhyun smirked before slyly suggesting “Let’s get to work then.”

**_To Be Continued . . ._ **


End file.
